 Breakthrough breaks barrier for Indian athletes
By T R Ramakrishnan (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-12 08:48 At any international sporting event, especially the Olympic Games, the question most frequently asked of Indian sports journalists is: "So, one billion people and you don't win anything. Why?" It's a deeply insulting question to a people proud of their 4,000-year-old cultural heritage and their more recent 18-year-old economic boom. But there is no denying its validity. Since the modern Olympic Games began in 1896, India had not won a single individual gold medal. It hasn't won any gold medals since 1980, when its famed hockey team won the last of its eight golds. (The hockey team won successive golds from 1928 to 1956, before Pakistan ended its streak in Rome in 1960. India's domination was over but it still won two more in Tokyo 1964 and Moscow 1980.) Only four Indians have ever won individual medals: KD Jadhav won a weightlifting bronze in Helsinki 1952 Leander Paes won a tennis bronze in 1996 Atlanta K Malleswari won a women's weightlifting bronze in Sydney 2000 Rajyavardhan Rathore won a shooting silver in Athens 2004. (The list excludes Norman Pritchard who won two silvers in 1900 but was considered to have represented Great Britain.) Rathore's medal in Athens was a kind of breakthrough for Indian shooters. Over the last few years, they have become a minor force in world shooting, winning titles in World Championships but nothing in the Olympics. Now Abhinav Bindra, 2006 world champion, has crossed the final frontier with individual Olympic gold. After his feat yesterday, maybe that nagging question won't be asked so often. Even if it is, Indian sports journalists can reply with a smile. (China Daily 08/12/2008 page6) |
