Why out of 1.28 billion people only 2 Olympic medals in Rio?

When PV Sindhu meticulously matched the aggression of the World Champ from Spain with her Roaring shots in the women single’s badminton finals and successfully managed to secure a Silver Medal for herself in Rio, all eyes from India stick to the Live Feed on TVs, As though Sindhu was playing for 1.28 Billion faces to be saved from embarrassment back in India. Though she was representing her country but surely she didn’t played for hidden aspirations of millions of reluctant sportsmen who choose secured jobs over shaky untenable sportsman’s career.  It is this indifferent attitude of our society which has created an aura of negativity and inferiority towards sports in India, which in turn stops youngsters to venture out in sports. Whereas Govt. spending in sports has doubled in past decade but lack of proper talent coming toward sports has restricted India’s performance at world level to a meagre standard.  

Ironically Indian families enjoy watching Live Sports on TV together, but not many wants their kids to take up sports professionally. If some one dares to take up sports as his or her career, it’s not easy for them to sustain in an unsupportive annoying and sometime disgusting anti-sports environment in the country. Media reports on regular basis such cases, where a budding sportsman has to work as a daily laborer or peddler to arrange for his daily proper diet or for is conveyance. Time and again many Olympians had had complained about the prevailing sports management system at government level, which functions in an unprofessional and disarrayed manner, where impropriety, nepotism is a standard operating procedure of high rank officials. This is what a world level wrestler Tiger Singh has witnessed and felt in his two decades of sprawling career. He mentions times and instances when he even couldn’t afford for his own airfare and has to face discrimination.

He says if govt. can provide or instil some sense of security into the minds of the kids who are passionate about sports the whole scenario can get changed. Sportsmen at whichever level they are, if given assurance of support and provided with grooming can bring accolades for the country. Tiger Singh says this is the difference which puts Indian athletes behind of their international counterparts. It’s the support system which makes a difference.

Perhaps this is the main reason why in India most of the prospecting and talented kids opt out of sports at an early stage of their life. It is this reason why parents crush their children’s dream at an infant stage. In doing so we unconsciously restrict our own prospects in sports, how can we blame our sportsmen for non-performance if we couldn’t send own kids to play.