Flexible performance by Indian players in last moment

Distraction in match is biggest problem

Jaswant Claudius

Our players tried their best to win as many medals as possible in Paris Olympics 2024 but got only six medals, that too one less than the seven of Tokyo Olympics 2024. Out of the 204 countries recognized by the International Olympic Council that have participated in this multi-sport championship, 91 countries made their place in the medal table. The 117-member Indian team competed in 16 sports and won six medals including 1 silver, five bronze. This news was very disappointing for the sports lovers of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has left no stone unturned in increasing the budget of the sports department and encouraging the players continuously since his first term in 2014 to make India proud at the world level through sports. While the sports budget for the year 2013-14 was Rs 792.72 crore, an amount of Rs 2382.22 crore has been allocated for the Union Sports Ministry in 2024-25.

The Khelo India program started by the Government of India in 2017 during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after 2014 aims to find sports participants at the grassroots level, build better infrastructure for sports, start sports academies and provide proper sports-related training to emerging young players. In the last 10 years, the budget amount for various works in the field of sports has been increased from Rs 792.72 crore to Rs 2382.22 crore, i.e. an increase of about 182 percent. The benefit of this increase was definitely seen in the multi-sport competitions such as Summer Olympic Games 2020 and 2024, Asian Games 2022, Commonwealth Games 2022, and other sports world competitions, Asian Championships by the established players of India in international competitions, but we cannot call it enough. Archer Deepika Kumari, Lakshya Sen in badminton, Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting and wrestler Vinesh Phogat missing out on medals in the Paris Olympic Games is going to shatter the hopeevent all Indians who were expecting these participants to bring medals. Similarly, while the Summer Olympic Games is considered to be a symbol of the ability of the players of any country in a multi-sport event.
The purpose of giving such details is that if our players had stuck to their ability till the last moment, India could have got eight more medals in addition to the 6 medals they got in the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the last four-five months, India’s young, junior, senior players have performed brilliantly in various sports, including winning 12 gold, 4 silver in the Commonwealth Championship of weightlifting. In the South Asian Junior Athletics Championship, Indian players won 48 medals including 21 gold, 22 silver, 5 bronze. In the 2024 Asian Under-20 Athletics Championship, Indian players captured 29 medals including 7 gold, 11 silver, 11 bronze medals. Recently, in the Asian Zone of the World Under-23 Wrestling Championship held in Jordan, India’s young wrestlers won eight medals including four gold, two silver, two bronze medals and secured first place in the medal table. Thus we find that due to the influence of the Sports Department of the Government of India, Indian Olympic Association, Indian Sports Authority, there is no dearth of young players at the international level in India. But what is the reason that our players miss medals in world level and Olympic games. This question is a big challenge for the sports administrators and trainers of India.

The failure of Indian participants at the last moment puts a question mark on their fitness and stamina. It also raises questions on the concentration and mental strength of the players. Therefore, it is important that Indian players should be physically and mentally healthy and strong before entering the competition, only then the efforts and money being made for these players will be justified.