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  • Jun 29, 2021
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India has announced its hockey team for the Tokyo Olympics. Also, there are ongoing efforts such as ‘Khelo India’. In the hindsight of these explain about India’s position in global arena like olympics. Also comment about the improvements needed in this regard.

Introduction:

India is preparing to participate in the Olympics scheduled to be conducted in Tokyo. Due to the pandemic situation the event which had to be take place in 2020 has been rescheduled this year. As of now total contention of 109 players are participating in this edition. Although India is a large country, its success in the Olympics has not been very great.

 Body:

A variety of reasons such as lack of infrastructure, poor bureaucracy,  corruption in concerned committees and boards, improper training,  lack of awareness among players etc have hindered India’s previous performances in global stage. To transform sports culture in India, central government has started the ‘Khelo India’ campaign from the year year 2016-17. This this initiative aims at improving Sports from its grassroot levels. India’s preparation for the games have been somewhat  hindered due to the covid-19.  Amidst the travel restrictions imposed by some countries Indian players who were training in foreign countries faced difficulties.

India’s performance in previous olympics(Post-Independence):

  • India has won gold medal in hockey in the years 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964, 1980. Silver medal- 1960, Bronze- 1968 & 1972.
  • Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav was the first individual bronze medalist in wrestling for India in 1952 Helsinki.
  • Abhinav Bindra was the first person to win an individual gold medal. He achieved this in 2008 Beijing olympics.
  • The individual silver medalists in different olympics are: R.S.Rathore(Shooting)- 2004 Athens, Vijay Kumar(Shooting)- 2012 London, Sushil Kumar(Wrestling)- 2012 London, P V Sindhu(Badminton)- 2016 Rio de Janeiro.
  • Bronze medalists: Leander Paes- Tennis(1996), Karnam Malleshwari- Weightlifting(2000), Vijendar Singh- Boxing(2008), Sushil Kumar- Wrestling(2008), Saina Nehwal- Badminton(2012), Mary Kom- Boxing(2012), Gagan Narang- Shooting(2012), Yogeshwar Dutt- Wrestling(2012), Sakshi Mallik- Wrestling(2016).

Conclusion:

India is eyeing more medals at this year’s olympics. The lack of support to other sports in India has hampered its performance. India being a vary largely populated country, is not getting its fair share of medals in international events. India needs to strategise the processes related to various sports without which much success cannot be expected.