India and Olympics

After 1900 India has able to win only 28 gold medals in Olympics games which are equal to the number of medals won by American Athletes Michael Phelps. This depicts the dismal performance of India in Olympics history. Despite being the second most populous country on the earth , we produced only one gold medal in individual sports. This year India had sent its biggest contingent ever, which completely failed to achieve its double digit medals target. However, the performance of women was the only positive outcomes of the games where the likes of Dipa Karmakar, Sakhsi malik, P.V. Sindhu performed exceptionally well in their respective games.
Reasons for failure

Poverty and malnutrition
One third of the total poor population of the world lives in India. Every third child in India is malnourished. India ranked poorly in various social indicators like MMR and IMR. So if future of India is not healthy, how can we expect them to win medals for the country.
Lack of Sports Culture:
Much of India’s population does not engage in sports, and definitely not from the early age necessary needed to be a world class sportsperson. Indian parents mainly push their children toward academic excellence. Lack of food security, infrastructure and sporting opportunities might be the reason behind parents empathy toward sports in India.
Lack of Infrastructure
The bigger issue is channeling the talents of those Indians with access to food and facilities towards a goal of winning more medals at sporting events. India, unlike China, seems to lack the enormous drive to compete with the West .
Corruption:
Scarce public investible resources have eluded sports. This is further compounded by misallocation, lack of transparency, poor asset management and an absence of a framework for measuring impact of public spending. This is unlikely to change, despite the government's best intentions. There are scholarships and endowments for athletes that guarantee a basic minimum standard of living, but this system is fraught with bureaucratic red tape, political interference, conflicts of interest and corruption most sporting bodies are led by non-sportsmen and bureaucrats who have never played at the international level. The politicization of Indian sports is the root cause for the country not being able to create world class athletes. People are also tired of the political interference in sports.
Sports Associations:
Sporting association itself are no strangers to scandals. In 2012, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was suspended from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for electing leaders with pending criminal charges, forcing Indian athletes to compete at the Sochi Winter Games under the IOC flag instead of the Indian banner
Focus on Cricket
Indian sport tends to be focused on events that are not included in the Olympics, most importantly cricket.

Possible measure to be taken by Government:

Promote sports among Women
In order to improve, India should take advantage of its strengths. Obviously, women have been performing very well. Most women in India have to struggle against inherent social and institutional norms, even if their families are supportive. Women who reach the Olympics are thus likely to already have exceptional skills, relative to men in India. Therefore, India should field more make an effort to field more women and give them better access to trainers and facilities.
Sports culture
India most importantly should develop sports culture, through investing in more sports facilities at schools (which have to be built anyway) and stadiums in towns and cities. Sports other than cricket should also be emphasized, and tailored to the means and abilities of different wealth groups and states (for example, wrestling is an important local sport in Haryana, which is why it produces most of India’s Olympic athletes in that sport). Indians should focus on the sports in which they are more likely to succeed, for a variety of cultural, institutional, or dietary reasons that are by no means fixed or permanent, or characteristic of every Indian. In general, with the exception of hockey and wrestling, Indians have been winning more medals at sports that emphasize agility, flexibility, and concentration such as badminton, shooting, gymnastics, while performing less well in team sports and contact sports.
Get rid of bureaucratic dominance and Corruption
Olympic level athletes are not achieved overnight, it is a continuous process and requires time and effort. Sport bodies are expected to identify the right talent, at the right age, support and train them to Olympic level. Unfortunately, our sports bodies are not able to do this with the same rigour, barring a few exceptions like badminton. The reason is that most sporting bodies are led by non-sportsmen and bureaucrats who have never played at the international level. The politicisation of Indian sports is the root cause for the country not being able to create world class athletes. People are also tired of the political interference in sports.
Corruption was another issue that is endemic in sport bodies due to political interference, nepotism and lack of performance measures. A poor performance in the Olympics does not lead to any action against the incumbents due to nepotism. Ninety-two percent of those polled said corruption is very high in state sports departments and bodies. This perception may also be the reason that most people do not see sports as a worthwhile option for their children.
Dietary supplements:
Dietary requirements including food supplements should be provided under the supervision of experienced nutritionists and sports doctors.
Support of sports specialist doctors
Competent doctors with specialization in sports sciences, physiologists, physiotherapists, masseurs, sports analysts, yoga instructors, psychologists depending upon the sports discipline should be made available to elite athletes.
Advanced equipment
SAI centres need to be strengthened and given a world-class makeover in terms of accommodation, training infrastructure and facilities, sports science backup equipment, performance monitoring equipments, etc
Engagement of top-level foreign coaches
Top-of-the-line foreign coaches should be hired when there is a certainty in respect of their eligible remuneration and period of engagement.
Improve skills and techniques of home-bred coaches
Indian coaches should be sent for advance-level coaching abroad, so that they can come on par with foreign coaches.
Curb doping
To keep doping in check, samples of athletes should be taken and checked on a regular basis in these training centres. Seminars, workshops for sportspersons and coaches should be conducted frequently to familiarise them with the rules and regulations and to educate them about the harmful effects of doping.
Monitoring system to assess impact of training/coaching on athletes
A web-based monitoring system needs to be developed to monitor the progress in performance levels of elite athletes. For each discipline, a set of monitoring parameters need to be developed and progress of each athlete with respect to these parameters should be recorded on a regular basis. The system will link the training centers to a central monitoring system.
 

By: Vishal