New Delhi: India sent its largest contingent of sportspersons to this year’s Olympics, the biggest sporting spectacle in the world.
However, the country could not win even a bronze medal even after ten days. Why?
Abhinav Bindra, the only Indian ever to win an Olympics gold in an individual event, has the answer – invest heavily on sports.
Bindra took to Twitter on August 16 to give his brief but brute and honest answer as to why do Indian athletes struggle badly to win medals at Olympics.
Here is what the Beijing’s gold medalist tweeted:
Abhinav Bindra ✔ @Abhinav_Bindra
Each medal costs the UK £5.5 million. That’s the sort of investment needed. Let’s not expect much until we put systems in place at home.
The ace shooter’s tweet was in reference to an article published on The Guardian, which described how UK was investing heavily in its athletes to achieve glory at the quadrennial event.
The system is very much in place in Great Britain, where the government distributes money in a systematic manner to different sporting bodies.
Now that India’s chances of winning even 4-6 medals at Rio look bleak, it’s high time the Indian government comes up with something similar.
India sent 118 atheletes this year and expectations of their country people were quite high. As each medal-less day passed, the disappointment mounted.
From shooters to hockey teams to individual athletes, all have fallen short of winning a medal.
The question in everybody’s mind is – despite being the country with the maximum population, why does our country still struggle to win medals at the mega event?