Atlanta Olympics’96: India wins a bronze in lawn tennis event; Sydney Olympics 2000: one bronze medal won in weight lifting; Athens’04: India graduates to a silver medal, won in double-trap shooting event; Abhinav Bindra wins gold in individual event for the first time in Beijing Olympics 2008. Will the Indian contingent in Beijing be able to clinch some more medals and at least end the medal drought that India has faced at the Olympics? Well, fans are praying, the athletes are sweating out to achieve that target.
India and China have been synonymous with the term ‘developing superpowers’ for a long time. Economically, the progress that both these countries have made definitely instills this confidence in terming them so. Both these countries have the human and natural resources, and the technologies to utilize it, which is enviable. But it seems China has outdone India in certain sectors and fields in which India’s progress is still like that of an underdeveloped nation. And the sport is such an area.
It’s a shame that a country of over a billion populations is not able to produce a better result in the Olympics. Well, the other ‘developing superpower’, China certainly is catching up with other ‘superpowers’ not just economically and technologically but in sports as well. In the Athens Olympics China was just behind the US in the medal tally, winning 32 gold medals. Onus will be on the US to remain ahead, as this time the Chinese contingent will be playing in their home ground, in front of their home crowd, which will certainly be shot in the arm to perform better than the last time.
There is a lesson that needs to be learnt from the Chinese. It has been reiterated by the Noble laureate economist, Amartya Sen for long time that a market married to the society will be called development of a nation. The development in market should percolate down to the society. It too must feel that progress. Progressing economically, increasing GDP, getting the Nuke deal with the US done and increasing number of Indians in Forbes’s list of richest people is not the right indicator of India becoming a superpower. Just like a body needs an all-round development to be called healthy, so does a nation needs to develop other than economically and technologically to be called a superpower. And the medals tally in the Olympics is an indicator of that.
India and China have been synonymous with the term ‘developing superpowers’ for a long time. Economically, the progress that both these countries have made definitely instills this confidence in terming them so. Both these countries have the human and natural resources, and the technologies to utilize it, which is enviable. But it seems China has outdone India in certain sectors and fields in which India’s progress is still like that of an underdeveloped nation. And the sport is such an area.
It’s a shame that a country of over a billion populations is not able to produce a better result in the Olympics. Well, the other ‘developing superpower’, China certainly is catching up with other ‘superpowers’ not just economically and technologically but in sports as well. In the Athens Olympics China was just behind the US in the medal tally, winning 32 gold medals. Onus will be on the US to remain ahead, as this time the Chinese contingent will be playing in their home ground, in front of their home crowd, which will certainly be shot in the arm to perform better than the last time.
There is a lesson that needs to be learnt from the Chinese. It has been reiterated by the Noble laureate economist, Amartya Sen for long time that a market married to the society will be called development of a nation. The development in market should percolate down to the society. It too must feel that progress. Progressing economically, increasing GDP, getting the Nuke deal with the US done and increasing number of Indians in Forbes’s list of richest people is not the right indicator of India becoming a superpower. Just like a body needs an all-round development to be called healthy, so does a nation needs to develop other than economically and technologically to be called a superpower. And the medals tally in the Olympics is an indicator of that.
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