I agree we need training..why china, it could be usa or australia or russia or any other top medal ranking countries.
Its better we select the sport where the performance excels and meets medal requirements, and then send for training to those countries. for example track and field could be usa and jamaica.
let our atheletes train with gold medalists. that should be the goal and not in china perspective. thats the fundemental mistake we make and are making by comparing with china being the neighbour.
if pakistan gets a gold send a few trainees to him. our goal is training with the best.
policitians must be removed from sport. what basis they have to even touch the torch when it came to delhi. is bollywood stars going to get olympic golds. what kind of culture are we having. I mean, if i were to be the authority, i would have sacked these whimsicals.
we are a democracy.. that means all our voices must be heard and acted upon it. but nothing happens in india. thats how it reflects in the medal list too. what i am saying is people lack the fighting spirit be it sport or kicking out an evil politician. we fear forces that are evil too.
Your opinion sounds perfect. I am wondering why doesn't IOC choose you as the president ? Why should a politian be the president who hasn't been an athlete ever since he finished 10th std ? I strongly believe that Indian sports will definitely get a facelift under your presidency. How can a committee progress if they call actors to carry the olympic torch ? They simply should stop looking for publicity and think about the future of Indian sports.
Its not only embarrassing for the country but its extremely unfair for the athletes ( who work really hard ) to be lead by a president who has absolutely no sports background besides waving hands at major sport functions.
Why should we go to China like beggars to train our athletes ? Have we lost confidence in our own selves?
We should do the following things:
1) Set up an independent sports body comprised only of former sportsmen and coaches to oversee sports excellence in India. Like IIT AND IIM. We do not need a damned ministry in the government with it corruption and red-tape. Our present sports minister is a former film star (Damn it !) -- A WRONG PERSON IN THE WRONG PLACE !!!!!!!
2) Get top companies to commit to sponsor major sporting events and help build 10 sporting institutes which will be managed by this body.
3)Start building an infrastructure and training facilities in different parts of India within these institutes. That way we will also be ready to host the Olympics.
3 in the North East 3 in the North 2 in the South 2 in the West.
4)Incorporate routines like Yoga and Pranayama to relieve stress on athletes.
We should develop our own system instead of running to other countries.
This is where the average Indian falls behind the rest of the world. They simply do not believe in themselves.
I am a regular reader of Ushaji's Column, we are lucky that rediff has provided us with this platform. Training in China sounds like a good idea. But we also need to take great care of our Nutrition. If you were to compare the physical conditioning of the US Atheletes and Indian Atheletes, you would know the difference. The American/European Atheletes tend to have less Body fat and more Lean Muscles. Which gives them superiority in all the sports they do. We need to figure out a way to achive that fitness standard for all out atheletes. I think there is a tremendous potential with our atheletes, if they could only take care of this aspect of their training.
RE:nonsense
by uma nair on Sep 02, 2004 10:51 PM
If India is really the best, how come we havent won a single gold in years???? i appreciate your patriotism, but sometimes we need to do more than that to succeed at at international level.
Being an avid watcher of sports and as a passionate Indian who wants to see the country pick up more than 1 silver medal at the Olympics, I totally agree with the fact that we should start training for not just 2008, but also for 2012. We do need to catch the athletes young and train them with not only the physical but also the mental aspects of the games. We would need to start with the basic nutrition training, training and endurance and if given the right facilities we can compete with the Chinese and Americans. I doubt if there is a dearth of great athletes in the country. But with all the media, the hype, the advertising and not to mention the money being pumped into cricket, do we really stand a chance? Nevertheless, I find great pride in the way Anju George performed at the Olympics and wish her all the best in the next Olympics
Best way to get a reasonably good number of medals for India is to request the Olympic Association to include BRASS, COPPER, STAINLESS STEEL, ALUMINIUM, IRON, PLASTIC, CLOTH and PAPER medals also in addition to gold, silver and bronge medals.
RE:Olympic medals for India
by Paras on Sep 01, 2004 01:38 AM
i was discussing the same thing few days ago with my friends that we should have steel and copper and paper medals where india have a bit of chance.
RE:Olympic medals for India
by Ram on Sep 01, 2004 06:56 AM
i agree that there needs to be a change.. but every indian needs to take a close look at himself and bring about the change.. the average fitness level of indians is very poor compared to other nations with cricket being the prime example.. given the amount of money spent in that sport, we should win each and every game and cricketers should be the fittest. But i would rate them last in terms of fitness. Yes, there are a lot of facilities lacking in india.. but a lot of indians are not necessarily staying in india and some of them are fit and athletic.. they are the ones i would blame.. when a russian or belarus gymnast can train in usa and win a medal, why not us.. we should consider making use of the country we live and train and make our country atleast reasonably proud.. 1/6th of the worlds population and 1 medal out of 900 odd seems really awful!
The main problem with indian is over optimistic. Your column is the true example. Why to appreciate athelates who mere perform 14th or 15th. Why to give credit to J Shobha who has finished 14th?? Why to give credit to Binu who finished last in the final?? This is the way you can improve ur perf. No medal..no credit. Medal is the metrics for the performance, not 14th or last in the final
RE:Over optimistic
by Prasanna on Sep 01, 2004 05:19 PM
Hey man,
Credit is not only given to the achievers(gold - bronze medalists) but also to people who exhibit sportmanship. JJ Shobha despite being injured took up the 800m and came 3rd. Thats a remarkable achievement from her part. She definitely deserves this. May her determination bring more glory to india. Hats off to jj shobha.
Our belowed IOC President Mr.Suresh Kalmadi has terribly performed badly.During his tenure,he couldnt even get a satisfactory medals.So,its right time to remove him and I think, PT Usha would be the apt person for the post.I call upon my fellow Netizens to come forward with similar opinioins.
i am very much agree with pt usha we should not think of beijing but think of the 2012 or rather 2016 olympics the money that we will put as we are trying to get 2016 olympics in our country rather we should use it for developmnt of talent till 2016 olympics and then host the 2020 olympics so that then we can become a power in sports like china f oday i am sure in bejing china will not only be first in medal standing but they will dominate every sports
RE:train in china
by narasimha on Aug 31, 2004 10:42 PM
Dear Raju
Yes this Suresh Kalmadi should be removed.He is a waste box person. For the sake of power he is lingering with that post. Better keep away these political persons and install PT.Usha, Kiran Bedi, Pullela Gopichand and there are so many persons who are really intrested to develop sports.
