A Samba performance brought an end to Rio Olympics 2016, but in India, nobody is dancing
A Samba performance brought an end to Rio Olympics 2016, but in India, nobody is dancing. The Games have been an unqualified disaster for India in terms of performances across all disciplines. Of course, the two medallists — grappler Sakshi Malik and shuttler PV Sindhu — lifted the nation’s spirits to an extent and there were brave attempts like the one by Dipa Karmarkar. Overall though, India’s outing looked out of sorts on the better days and abysmal on the worst.
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We are in danger of going back to the days of simply whiling away our time at the Olympics, not expecting any medal at all — participating as one more country marching in the opening and closing ceremonies and going through the routines in between.
Let us now start preparing for Tokyo Olympics 2020. Once our athletes are home, officials and athletes need to return to the drawing board. Let’s not be overjoyed by spectacular performances between Rio and Tokyo Olympics because a medal in some other competition does not translate into a medal at the Olympics.
Did we lose or give up psychologically too? Should there be an equal emphasis on sports psychology? Do we need to train the mental faculties of our athletes? At Rio, many of our athletes failed to reach even their personal bests — the ‘why’ here needs to be addressed. Did they simply freeze on the massive platform? Why didn’t we come up with wins in our traditional strongholds? Do we send our athletes to give them a taste of world-class competition rather than chasing medal hopes? Or do we only send athletes who are medal contenders and prune numbers for Tokyo? The nature of sport is such that nobody can guarantee a medal. But still, do we need to keep our aims and expectations more realistic next time around?
There are so many questions, but the answers to these need careful thought and deliberation. But it is certain that we need better planning and preparedness for Tokyo. The time to begin is now. Your clock is already ticking, India.
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