From Also-Rans to Gold Winners : Bharat’s New Era of Excellence

As the 20^th Asian games conclude, Bharat’s performance is again in the spotlight. With a rich haul of 21 gold and 85 aggregate medals, our fourth position in the medals tally remains unchanged from the previous edition. Good enough? Hardly, considering this is Asia’s second biggest country vying to be a universal powerhouse.

                   

Nonetheless, putting these results in perspective narrates an interesting story. A contingent of 828 members ranked 5^th with 13 golds in New Delhi (1982). In Aichi (2026) the corresponding figures were 495 members, 4^th rank with 21 golds. Less red tape baggage, more precision. A nation which was often among the also ran and depended on flash individual brilliance like P T Usha for acclaim, today has a robust sports infrastructure in place for Olympic sports - a far cry from days when cricket was our sole claim to sporting glory.

Hockey was an erstwhile strength such that we won 7 Olympic golds till 1964. Major Dhyanchand’s wizardry spun magical awe, and subsequent teams built an invincible aura. But there was a steady decline since. Bharat’s artistic hockey struggled to cope with the emergence of physical hockey. General apathy of successive governments did not help. Things began to change after Odisha’s state sponsorship. Corporate backing wedded with key administrative reforms under Hockey India, reaped rich rewards like consecutive Olympic bronzes in 2020 and 2024, and Asian Games gold in 2026. An Olympic gold in LA 2028 should complete a dream comeback.

Unlike earlier when India’s success in athletics and other sports was sporadic and individual, there is now a well-oiled system producing elite athletes. ACTC (Annual Calendar for Training and Competitions) pumps hundreds of crores rupees into training programmes, regional and national coaching networks, and providing international exposure for athletes. This enables NSF (National Sports Federations) identify raw talent in the country for onward nurturing. Khelo India Scheme is India’s prime apparatus to build a dynamic sports environment and spur athletes to achieve global excellence. The efforts are now bearing fruit as Indian athletes excel in diverse games like archery, shooting, wrestling, boxing, high jump, javelin throw, and even hitherto uncharted territory like sailing and golf. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund provides financial assistance to former meritorious sportspersons who were ignored.

The perks are not only financial. When the prime minister calls or invites a champion in order to celebrate his/her achievement, and speaks eloquently on how he was following your success story all along, the feeling of being cared for and valued is priceless. It is bound to spur athletes to aim for higher peaks.

From successive governments that neglected sports to one with a properly working sports policy from grassroots to elite international level, Bharat has reached a stage where parents are actually inclined to encourage children to play. Today an Olympic medal can fetch plum government jobs in addition to cash rewards running into crores of rupees. It is up to young boys and girls to cash in !