I billion.....and no gold?

I promise that this shall be the last post for the day! I really need to start packing. Anyway, I noticed this really good article by Rojit Brijnath and I couldn't help but blog it. Rohit Brijnath, many years ago used to write for that now defunct magazine Sportsworld. As a dedicated Sportstar fan, and it is the best sports magazine I have ever read, I looked upon SW as just another sports gossip rag, which is what it really was! But anyway, this is an excellent article on why we've never produced an individual gold medallist at the Olympics and what the prospects of doing so in the future are.

As an ardent sports enthusiast, who has Court No 1 tickets for the first Monday at Wimbledon in her right hand drawer at the present moment (and yes, I am showing off..couldn't help it!!), I thought a word or two about Indian sport would be worthwhile. To be honest, I cannot completely understand why we have never won an Olympic gold, apart from the obvious fact that the one sport we're reasonable at- cricket, was played only once at the Olympics as an exhibition event, where France won the gold. Enough said. So let's look at the major Olympic disciplines- let's not even consider swimming, gymastics, the other water sports, or even equestrian sports. All of these require a fair investment of funds, and most golds in these events go to the bigger, richer events.

Racquet sports- well, we've never been able to match the Chinese and the Swedes at TT, but then who has. It's the same story in badminton, although it would be great if Aparna Popat won a round or two at Athens. I remember Dipankar Bhattacharjee coming from nowhere to reach the pre-quarters in Barcelona '92...that I think is the best we can hope for from Aparna. I am big fan of Aparna's game, but I just don't think she has the power, skill, speed and even the hunger that you need to be in the top 10. I'd be glad if she could prove me wrong, but at 26 I am not sure she's going to get us that elusive Olympic gold.

I think it boils down to that one big question: why have we never won even a medal in athletics...and will Anju Bobby George get us our first medal? I think Brijnath ignores a very critical aspect of Indian athletics- doping. After the performance at the Sydney Olympics it became more than obvious that a lot of our athletes were taking performance enhancing drugs, which they had to stop taking in the run up to the Olympics and which accounted for their poor performance. When Sunita Rani was first caught for a doping offence, she did say that there were others who took drugs as well, but subsequently that part of her story was conveniently forgotten. There was also this hilarious case of a javelin thrower banned by the AAFI who then competed at the next nationals, with a different hairstyle and a different name. And the AAFI didn't even notice it, till journalists pointed this out to them. So Anju Bobby George is really our best hope and I am a huge admirer of how composed and calm she is, even under pressure. Here's an update on how Anju and Anjali Bhagwat's preparations are coming along. All the very best!

P.S. This is entirely unrelated: thanks a ton Patrick! And a very belated happy birthday as well.