Olympic Games and Indian Participation - an Overview
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Science, Technology and Development ISSN : 0950-0707 Olympic Games and Indian Participation - An Overview *Gurubasavaraja.G. Physical Education Director. S A V T Govt First Grade College Kudligi. Abstract This paper attempts to study Indian participation in summer Olympic Games since 1920, and it’s new unifying identity designed by home-grown branding agency. India was first represented in the Summer Games in the 1900 Paris Olympics. Norman Pritchard was the sole representative from India but he was able to win two silver medals, one from the men's 200 meters and another in the 200 meter hurdles. Olympic historians have agreed to award Pritchard's medals to India despite India's lack of independence at the time. India first sent a team to officially represent them in 1920 and they have been in every Summer Olympics since then despite the fact that the Indian Olympic Association was not established until 1927. It was recognized by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) in the same year. Their first Olympic medals since 1900 came when the Indian field hockey team won the gold in May 26, 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This was their first taste of Olympic gold but certainly will not be the last. As a matter of fact, India has won a gold medal in the Summer Games since 1928 all the way to 1956. In 2012, Sushil Kumar won the silver medal for wrestling (men's freestyle 66 kg) and became India's second multiple individual Olympic medalist since Norman Pritchard with his first being a bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the same sport and weight class. In most accounts of Olympic history across the world, India's Olympic journey is a mere footnote. This book is a corrective. Drawing on newly available and hitherto unused archival sources, it demonstrates that India was an important strategic outpost in the Olympic movement that started as a global phenomenon at the turn of the twentieth century. Among the questions the authors answer are: When and how did the Olympic ideology take root in India? Who were the early players and why did they appropriate Olympic sport to further their political ambitions? What explains India's eight consecutive gold medals in Olympic men's hockey between 1928 and 1956 and what altered the situation drastically, so much so that the team failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Games? India and the Olympics also explores why the Indian elite became obsessed with the Olympic ideal at the turn of the twentieth century and how this obsession relates to India's quest for a national and international identity. It conclusively validates the contention that the essence of Olympism does not reside in medals won, records broken or television rights sold as ends in themselves. Particularly for India, the Olympic Volume IX Issue XII DECEMBER 2020 Page No : 111 Science, Technology and Development ISSN : 0950-0707 movement, including the relevant records and statistics, is important because it provides a unique prism to understand the complex evolution of modern Indian society Key words: Olympic, medal, athlete, social, competitive , IOA Introduction India is a vibrant country that has always carried a fevered pitch and fervent excitement for sports. Yet as of this writing if one is to pit the Olympic medals ever earned by the great Michael Phelps against the all- time total of India, the number that separates the two can be counted on one hand—with the disparity between gold-medal totals even greater in Phelps' favor. Considering India has had a bit of a head start—with the Baltimore Bullet's first Olympic race coming in 2000—it is a sadly comical tale. Different reasons have been insinuated for the country's lack of propensity to stand atop a podium, so let's touch many of the common explanations and then at the end try to offer at least a modicum of solutions for the future. No one in history has ever claimed any government is perfect. For the most part, the mad men ruling the roost seem to have their own agendas at hand. One need look no further than India, where government officials of the developing country quite literally turn their backs on millions of competitors. Without going down a list of Parliamentary names that none of us have ever heard of, it is safe to say their government has undoubtedly failed their athletes by the lack of subsidized training, facilities and gear. India Today reported that 2008 Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra echoed these sentiments as he tore into his country's sports infrastructure. The raw talent can only take these athletes so far, since support and encouragement—whether financial, emotional or physical— are essential aspects that any athlete requires, and without them, his cause can be hopeless. P.T. Usha, arguably the greatest track and field star the country has produced, was reduced to tears due to governmental negligence. 2012 Olympic bronze-medalist hopeful Mary Kom was also a victim, as she was shocked by the substandard food during the National Boxing Championships. For a country that boasts itself as a future world superpower and carries the fourth-most billionaires, these acts are inexcusable and boggle the mind. Keep in mind that although India's overall GDP may be in the bottom quartile of the world, its administration is far from destitute, as many believe. The country, along with sponsors, funnels billions of dollars into cricket, while thousands of brutal testimonials on the living and training conditions that other gifted competitors are forced to endure can break one's heart. It is as if the nation has resigned itself to its fate before even lacing up sneakers. Of course there is a twisted reason behind it all. The depressing mentality that the government has is that there is "no point to encourage it." The money (which is not always spent wisely, evidenced by the upper and lower classes drifting away from one other at an Volume IX Issue XII DECEMBER 2020 Page No : 112 Science, Technology and Development ISSN : 0950-0707 alarming rate) comes from over a billion citizens that follow cricket as their second religion covers their bases. Alas, that does not always work, especially in this day and age, when they get embarrassed in prime time by nations with resources far less than theirs. We agree that there are more pressing matters that the country needs to take care of instead of shaving .03 seconds off someone's 100-meter mark, but is the money that is not going to the athlete always headed toward a more noble cause? What if they worked toward a grass-roots movement that helped develop and foster the rural inner-city children with a structured support system?. The country needs to understand that an escape through sports can be a solution for the impoverished and raise their standard of living. Imagine the hundreds of millions of talented individuals that would stop wasting their gifts, if only given a ripple of hope. Objective: This paper intends to explore India was an important strategic outpost in the Olympic movement that started as a global phenomenon at the turn of the twentieth century. of sporting activities in the country, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Indian at Olympic inception of IOA The International Olympic Day is celebrated every year since 1948 on June 23 to commemorate the beginning of the modern Olympics, which first took place on the same date in 1894. The day is a celebration of sports, health and well being. There are many events held during the week leading to the Olympic Day - most prominently the 'Olympic Day Run'. However, this year, the coronavirus pandemic has forced the athletes around the world to go virtual with their fitness sessions instead. The Olympics, too, through its official social media handles, is raising awareness on mental and physical well being during the 2020 edition of the Olympic Day. It organized live training and fitness sessions with many leading athletes around the world in a programme called 'Olympic Day Workout'. In its initial years, the Indian Olympic Association selected sportspersons to represent India at the Olympic Games. Subsequently, by 1946-47, the Indian Olympic Association took responsibility only to send the Indian team to the Olympics (principally, this meant arranging transport, board, and accommodation), while the separate National Sports Federations for each sport were responsible for selecting and training competitors for their sport. Reflecting this, ahead of the 1948 Olympics, the IOA Council agreed that a team representing athletics, swimming, weight lifting, wrestling, boxing, football and hockey, with officials for each of these sports, and a Chief Manager, would be entered for the 1948 Olympics. And so, from 1948 onwards, India began sending teams representing several sports – each selected by its respective National Sports Federations. One of the main early challenges IOA faced was to secure Volume IX Issue XII DECEMBER 2020 Page No : 113 Science, Technology and Development ISSN : 0950-0707 funding, so that it could send the National Team to the Olympics and finance the related costs of transport, room, and board. Over the years, the IOA undertook wider outreach with several National Sports Federations, and became a governance body that coordinated the sending of multiple sports teams – each selected by their respective National Sports Federations – to the Olympic Games. Later, the IOA also started sending National Teams to Games of the CGF and OCA. Under normal circumstances, the athletes and fans would currently be gearing up for the 32nd summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were scheduled to take place between July 24-August 9.