The Agony and the Ecstasy of a Gold Medal….

By now reams and reams of Stuff has been written on Abhinav Bindra. India’s first individual gold medal ever is a feat to be celebrated without any restraint. The sad part is that it’s difficult to be sure if we will win one more. Even this gold has more to do with the determination of Abhinav himself and the unstinting support of his family. Its ironic to see the president of the Indian Olympic association and all his office members laud the achievement when they have not really done anything towards helping the sport flourish in the country. His case highlights the fact that in India to flourish as a sportsperson you need to be a cricketer or you need to do so in spite of the system and many talented sports persons have been sacrificed at the altar of a system fighting to pull them down. It takes only the exceptionally good and mentally strong to succeed. So while its great that we are ecstatic in the current, what does the future hold?

Given the sad state of state support towards our sporting infrastructure and towards sportsmen and women in general it is difficult to be optimistic about this being the first of many gold medals in the future. Perhaps nothing mirrors this sorry state of affairs than the performance and the results of the Indian Hockey team. The team that once was the gold standard, by which teams were judged at the Olympics, today finds it difficult to win any event of note. Years of mismanagement have ensured that the sport has languished, talented players have been discarded along the way while the lucky few in the sporting establishment have for years plundered what little money was allotted towards the sports.

While the IOA has been putting out optimistic statements, the ground reality is that the infrastructure and systems in place are still most unsuitable for sports to flourish. The hope is that this medal serves as a catalyst for the country to get its sporting house in order and that the precious resources that are being allotted for the development of sports find their way to people its intended for and not get lost in the big black hole of sporting babudom.

Today a country waits and hopes that the wishes of Abhinav Bindra that the gold medal he has won changes the face if sport in the country.

Amen