A Medal for the Masses

 (Be my guest, Dear Reader, if you feel offended)

 

The medal tally in the 2024 Olympics, as I write this, is China (28 Gold, 25 Silver, 17 Bronze) USA (27G, 35S, 33B) and Australia (18G, 14S, 11B). Citizens of these countries wouldn’t even know the names of all the Gold Medal winners of their countries let alone Silver and Bronze winners. Yet, we have our entire nation rise in unison in protest and anger over a missed Gold Medal. We would have been happy if even a default Silver was awarded gratis to Vinesh Phogat. The nation would have been consoled.

 

There are conspiracy theories on how Indian athletes, and particularly Vinesh Phogat, are deliberately being kept down. The fact is that with merely four bronzes on the board India doesn’t even figure in the consciousness of the world of sports let alone being a worthy enough opponent to hatch conspiracies against. Everyone must take the blame - the coach of Vinesh Phogat, the team manager, her dietician, the team physician, the government of India and even the Prime Minister himself, personally. Everyone, except the athlete herself.

 

Phogat is not new to Olympics and International Sports. And yes, she knew the rules and their unbending nature. Yet she lost due to an excess of a mere hundred grams, the equivalent of half a glass of water. The media is agog with stories of how she tried and tried yet didn’t succeed. Hence a nation of one hundred and forty crore should be grateful to her for having tried, understand her anguish, and sympathise with her. Well, she didn’t try hard enough. And count me out of the sympathy brigade.

 

It was irresponsible to stake her eligibility on a single night of jumping, rope-skipping, starvation and sauna to come within the stipulated weight bracket, when she should have targeted being a full kg or more below the limit in all her training sessions during the run up to the Olympics, well before the finals.

 

The other Indian woman wrestler, Antim, who had displaced Vinesh Phogat in the 53kg category, lost in the very first round in less than two minutes to an average competitor. The latter proved her mediocrity by promptly losing in the very next round.

 

Then there are curses and brickbats for the government for not doing enough for sports. Athletes in India, even University and State level certificate holders, get permanent jobs in the government. Railways, Armed Forces, Paramilitary and Police forces, the PSUs, and some private companies too appoint thousands every year and pay them full salary for no official work. There must be several lakh sportspersons on the roll of government departments at any time. They are free all the time to go and practice. In the Railways, I know for sure, most of them give up the sports, the reason they were recruited, and don’t even go for practice even though they get full time exemption from work. A government job is their ultimate objective. And, when they do practice, it is nowhere near world, or even national standards. When questioned, they rise up in unison and condemn the administration. Government departments and sports federations spend lakhs and lakhs on each promising sportsperson, who is a potential medal winner even at the national level. They are given free equipment, costumes, and are sponsored for specialised training in India and abroad. Foreign coaches are often brought in to train them at home too. Vinesh Phogat was a major beneficiary of the government’s patronage.

 

Sorry, Vinesh Phogat! I have no sympathy for you and your entitled friends. I have only anger and frustration on the way you have thrown away the opportunity to win an Olympic Gold for your country, for a people who are desperate to find heroes to celebrate their mundane lives. You have let the nation down and you alone must answer for it.

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