Paris Olympics – Done and Dusted

The 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremony. India won six medals – one Silver and five Bronze. Neeraj Chopra (Gold medalist in 2020 Tokyo Olympics) won the Silver despite recurring groin injury, as mentioned by him. 21-year old Aman Sehrawat won one Bronze, 22-year old Manu Bhaker two Bronze (one in a team event with Sarabjot Singh who is also 22), while the other two Bronze medals were won by Swapnil Kusale and by the Field Hockey Team captained by Harmanpreet Singh. How do we view India, with a population of 144 crore (as of June 2024), sporting a 117-strong participating contingent in the Paris Olympics, winning one Silver and five Bronze medals and  “ranked 71” among the participating countries? 

One cross-section terms it a dismal performance; compared to numerous smaller countries (some indeed tiny) and fielding much smaller contingents who have done so well and ranked above India. The other cross-section, ruling-class included, calls  it an excellent achievement – the second best Indian performance in Olympic history shared with the six medals won in the 2012 London Olympics, with the best Indian performance in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics winning seven medals including one Gold.     

India has not won any medal in Winter Olympics since these games began in 1964 and its performance in Summer Olympics is an open book: No Medal won in 1920 (Antwerp), 1924 (Paris), 1976 (Montreal), 1984 (Los Angeles), 1986 (Seoul) and 1992 (Barcelona);  One Medal won in  1928 (Amsterdam), 1032 (Los Angeles), 1936 (Berlin), 1948 (Berlin), 1956 (Melbourne), 1960 (Rome), 1964 (Tokyo), 1968 (Mexico), 1972 (Munich), 1980 (Moscow), 1996 (Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney) and 2004 (Atlanta); Two Medals won in 1900 (Paris), 1952 (Helsinki) and 2018 (Rio); Three Medals won in 2008 (Beijing); Six Medals won in 2012 (London) and 2024 (Paris); Seven Medals won in 2020 (Tokyo). The 10 Gold medals won by India in Olympics to date include 8 in Hockey, one in Shooting (Abhinav Bindra) and one in Athletics (Neeraj Chopra).

There were many disappointments and heartbreaks for Indians in Paris. Manu Bhaker missed her third medal perhaps due to one wrong shot. But the most prominent was wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who after three terrific wins on the first day (including defeating  Yui Susaki – the Tokyo gold medalist and four-times world champion) in the 50-kg category was found overweight by 100 gms next morning before wrestling in the Gold medal match and was disqualified.

Amid the huge slugfest over Vinesh’s disqualification, many blame her for wrestling in the 50-kg category.  But she was “allowed” in that category (weighing 49.9 kg) and did extremely well on the first day – August 6. This is even more remarkable because much of her training time in the previous year was wasted fighting the lechers in India’s sports set up, also affecting her emotionally and psychotically. If she was disqualified for mere 100gms overweight on the morning of August 7, her support team and the medico are “equally to blame”, if not more – no matter what arguments. Why the lies that support team was with her all night when she was not even provided a physiotherapist? Don’t PT Usha and the chief medico deserve a sack? Is the Sports Minister ashamed listening to this video 0 were his babus more important than one physiotherapist?

Weight cutting by wrestlers is not uncommon at all. Sarah Hildebrandt, with whom Vinesh was to fight for the Gold, finally won it against the opponent Vinesh had earlier defeated. Sarah admits she herself is a big weight cutter before the weigh in.   

The protests by Indian wrestlers (Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik included, later joined by Bajrang Punia) against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, then President Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is public knowledge. Why would women publicly make accusations that hurt their own image and end their wresting career? But the accused being heavyweight vote puller for the ruling party, propaganda was these protests were engineered by opposition parties (sic). That’s why it took a long time to remove Brij Bhushan from WFI and the case against him will probably continue for years. However, Vinesh Phogat is the first Indian woman wrestler to qualify for an Olympic final and she deserves to be so feted although this will depend on political calculations including  benefits, if any, in coming Haryana elections.  

Where politics over Brij Bhushan rocked the team of wrestlers, it is infighting including change of coaches that led to the Indian Women Hockey team not qualifying for the Paris Olympics – what were the hockey federation and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) doing? Also, on the third day of the Paris Olympics, media reported two Russian coaches and one masseur were not permitted to proceed to Paris till they sign a certificate saying they don’t support the war in Ukraine. Were dates for the Paris Olympics announced the previous week? Was the IOA poodle-faking? Why did Indian media hide Vinesh Phogat’s appeal for Silver medal was being fought by French lawyers and the IOA engaged Harish Salve at the last minute to save face?     

At the International Olympic Committee meeting in India last October, President IOC stressed that politicization of sports should not be allowed. But Nikhat Zareen (double world champion) was fielded ‘unseeded’ in Paris due to differences between the boxing world body and the IOC. Zareen then had to fight the world number one much earlier. The same thing happened with Lovlina Borgohain. Was this by design to keep India participants at disadvantage? Is this not the politicization of sports? Why did our sports ministry and the IOA not object and fight it out?

At the opening of the 141st IOC session at Mumbai in October 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “India will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to organize the Olympics in India in 2036. This is the age-old dream of 140 crore (1.4 billion) Indians. It is their aspiration.” India organizing the 2036 Olympics was also in the BJP manifesto unveiled before the 18th Lok Sabha elections.

In the instant case, the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Mnasukh Mandaviya, has left no opportunity to say how much money was spent (Rs 2 crore on Manu Bhaker, Rs 70 lakh Vinesh Phogat and the like) besides reiterating all this glory is because of PM Modi’s scheme of ‘Khelo India’. Making one’s naukari is fine but are we as a nation happy with 6-7 medals in the Olympics? Is this what we will show to the world when hosting the 2036 Olympics? Can we learn from the smaller countries who have won several gold and silver medals – much more than our achievement?

We need to seriously introspect our selection, training and management of sports with regard to Olympics; sincere, impartial, dedicated and regular monitoring. Didn’t we look sluggish in say table tennis and casual in archery compared to participants from other countries in the Paris Olympics? Are we flogging old horses without any effort to improve their performance? Looking at the 51 sports in the Paris Olympics, which other sports could we have participated in? For example, we haven’t achieved much in swimming, but can we participate in diving? How about a much larger and better participation in athletics? What about the equestrian sport? Dishing out funds by itself has no meaning. Induction of new blood like Sarabjot Singh, Aman Sehrawat, Lakshya Sen, Nisha Dahiya and Reetika Hood is good but this needs to expand; a roll-on plan for the next Olympic and beyond in “every” sport .  

Is the decision in Paris to give prize money only to gold medalists linked to the global recession forced by the US-led NATO resolution to continue the war in Ukraine, engage China similarly and attack Iran? Are such decisions to promote the White Taliban Organization? Why was the decision on Vinesh Phogat’s appeal postponed from August 11 to 12 and now 13 – after the Paris Olympics is over? Will Annabelle Bennet, to whom the Sports Arbitration Court has referred Vinesh’s appeal, right the wrong?

We need to review the organization, appointments and functioning of the IOA, making it free from politicization. Government officials claiming all achievements must also mention efforts put in by private sports bodies playing a major role in promoting prospective Olympians.  Then there are individual sportsmen who trained without government assistance and won Gold – like Abhinav Bindra. Sarabjot Singh has refused the post of Deputy Director (Sports) offered by the Haryana Government saying he wants to concentrate on his shooting skills – a rare show of dedication by an Olympian. Finally we need a collective and well integrated national ecosystem of government and private sports bodies if we want to perform better in the Olympics..

The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are personal.