Stop celebrating Asian Games 2018 successes, India! Look at China
During a visit to the Chinese delegation at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games, President Xi Jinping said the success of athletes' will only not be measured by the number of medals they win but also by how they constantly improve themselves and surpass their limits.
China, quite clearly, was thinking several steps ahead of India even four years back.
One glance at the Asian Games 2018 medals tally and it becomes clear how China's approach is working wonders for the country. With 106 gold, 68 silver and 50 medals, the neighbouring country is right at the top of the game — quite literally.
Contrast this with India's score — 11 gold, 20 silver, 23 bronze medals.
And yet India is celebrating.
It has become a trend in India to celebrate all its Slumdog Millionaire stories. Athletes, who came from the marginalised sections, fought poverty and sprinted their way to the top.
Swapna Barman's is no ordinary story but we have made it a bit of a habit to hide behind such trailblazing success stories. Despite the pain she suffers wearing shoes that are not meant for her foot — with six toes each — Barman struck gold.
But each sporting event in India is now constrained to singing paeans about how athletes overcame poverty or caste marginalisation to make the 'country proud'. But it is time for India to think how long it is going to remain content feeling proud about its low medal count.
Each medal in India is counted with the desperation of those living on a parched land, those who have so given up on the hope of rain that they feel it is okay even if it drizzles.
Indian Idol, Kaun Banega Crorepati and the likes of such reality shows advertise themselves by telling viewers how the downtrodden, the forsaken and poverty-stricken are being given a platform to rise and shine.
But a sporting event is not a reality show.
It is real.
Sports federations cannot hide behind the achievements of a few athletes, we must know what is the roadmap to ensure India reaches right at the top. It wouldn't be surprising to know there is none.
China and India are ranked 1 and 2 respectively on the population front. The two countries together constitute about 37 per cent of humanity on the planet. But when it comes to performance in sporting events, India is nowhere close to China.
Tragically, India has the lowest number of Olympic medals per capita.
India was ranked 67th at the Rio Olympics based on the number of medals won. India won two medals — a silver (PV Sindhu in badminton) and a bronze (Sakshi Malik in wrestling). However, with a population of more than 1,326,801,000, the country figures at the end of the list when the medal tally is adjusted and calculated on a per capita basis.
This is not to take away from the glory of Indians who won. This is only to force those not wanting to see the dismal state of sports in India to wake up and take notice.
Some are telling us not to look at the China figures because the neighbouring country forces children to take up sports while they are too young and adds to their lives the 'pressure to perform'.
To begin with, let's stop being sore losers.