So Near, Not So Far

Being a die-hard sports fan, I must say that I came out sad after the outcome of the Olympics. So many close finishes, no golds, Vinesh’s disqualification, shoot off losses, etc.

But when one takes a closer look, we seem to be in the right direction from an all-round perspective. If we broaden our outlook to say that places where we were one win away from a medal or did better, then we had 15 such finishes this time – 6 medals, Vinesh, 6 fourth place finishes and 2 quarter finals in boxing (where the semifinalist is assured of a medal). The previous best was Tokyo where we had 12 such finishes – 7 medals, 3 fourth place finishes and 2 in wrestling, boxing for medal playoffs. We have never hit 10 before, London 2012 being the closest at 9.

Add this to 6 more quarter final performances (mostly in team sports across TT, Archery and Badminton) and a few more creditworthy performances in shooting, athletics and table tennis, India’s performance looks much better than ever before. (Agreed that it’s a silver lining given the expectations.)

The lesson is simple: if we keep taking more shots at the goal, we will score more goals eventually. Eventually we still need hero(in)es, infrastructure, social push and funding, much like any other pursuit and that’s in the right direction too. We have demonstrated going from nowhere in many fields – academics, entertainment, science, business, the field of Olympic sports has to be (and will be) next for national recognition on the global map. And each of those pursuits had baby steps to begin with. After all, we may be “so” near, but we are not “so” far.

But now back to the drawing board to prepare for Los Angeles 2028. Not just for the athletes, but for all of us that are members of the ecosystem in some form or the other.

PS: To be honest, I sometimes wonder at the commitment required for Olympic bound athletes. We have chances to atone and make up monthly, quarterly, worst case annually – but they get one in 4 years. Hats off!

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