Olympic Medals and sporting culture are directly proportional
India: There is no sporting culture. Sports is more of a hobby or at most a fitness/entertainment routine.
99% of the athletes take up sports because if you perform at the state level, chances are state govt will give you are job in railways, police or army. If you perform at the national level, you get a central govt job/railways and some one-time prize money.
By chance if there is motivation to be the world's best, we may not have the infrastructure, if we have the infrastructure (for training), we may not have world class coaches and regime (including diet), by chance even if we have that, sometimes athletes lose out on international chances due to various reasons like bureaucracy/babudom/corruption within federations.
Bottomline: To come out of poverty and earn a name (as a by-product) you take a sports as a career.
Once you get a govt job, you are more relaxed since you are already comfortable in life and sports slightly takes a backseat (mentally and not physically). It isn't do or die situation as long as you keep performing at a certain level and maintain it. i,e all you have to do is to keep working to maintain your national ranking and you'll get sponsorship opportunities at international events.
China: There was no sporting culture either few decades ago..but what changed. Check this statement: “We must resolutely ensure we are first in gold medals,” Gou Zhongwen, the head of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said on the eve of the Tokyo Olympics.
This statement is a testimony to the fact that the only thing China cares about its image and glory for the nation whenever there is international participation required. Hence whatever it takes to do this, must be done at any cost hook or by crook. So whats the option: Set up an assembly line like factory for every single Olympics discipline and start the kids when they are 4-5 for any event (almost). On the outside it looks cruel, but inside parents know if their child does well at national and international level and he/she/it can get a medal, then society would treat them at top of the pyramid since they got glory for the nation and govt will take care of any needs for the rest of their lifetimes (almost). Hence a rush to be part of that factory.
Bottomline: Sporting culture is enforced upon and seen as something lucrative for those who are willing and have in them to go through the hard trainings for a decade.
African nations: Countries like Euthopia, Kenya are developing countries and poverty is the first thing that comes in mind. But they know there are very few countries who can compete with them in specific events like middle distance, long distance athletic events.
But there are limited events and so many athletes...so one option is to change nationalities and compete at international level. Also compete at all possible international events so that someone will recognize you and provide sponsorship. Its a clear case of ROI for them. Win medals and get money and be rich.
Bottomline: Talent and will to succeed (financially and be well-off) personally overtakes everything.
European nations (incl. Australasia): These countries clearly have sporting culture as part of DNA. Period.
Great financial rewards, pride for the nation and will to succeed at the highest level.
Naturally gifted in most disciplines - tall, well-built and have highest confidence among all athletes.
Society rewards them well (socially) and they take pride in being international athletes.
Serious and high competition among them and they compete in a different league altogether at the highest level (Read Tour de France, Euro cup, etc)
Rest of the world falls in one of these buckets.
Coming back to India and how do we improve:
We should set realistic targets every year on international recognition...and not just wake up before Olympics. We now have
industrialists supporting athletes and obviously need more funds to improve infrastructure, training and coaching regime.
But fundamentally we need to follow either of the two models (Chinese or European one) or a hybrid. Both these models have some pros and cons if taken directly in the Indian environment. You can't do a lift and shift. The common denominator is the sporting culture at grass root level which needs to be either enforced (like China) or inculcated as a habit right from schooling. Bottomline: We should create an environment for athletes to leverage and be motivated to compete at the highest level with cricket-like financial rewards for athletes who bring pride & glory to the nation.
What can govt do: Clearly spell our sports budget - Financial rewards mapped with competition and position/medal and infrastructure spending on sports facilities.
What can industry do: Provide sponsorship (take care of athletes during their journey once talent is identified). Bring in former athletes who have brought glory (eg: Olympic gold quest) and create the launch pad for athletes to compete at international events.
What can society do (most important and trumps the above two): Inculcate a sporting culture and not just academics. All round abilities for a person to be considered for admission (not just acad scores).
To get into MIT and Stanford you must not only score the highest GPA but also be a top state level athlete and have all round skills necessary for the best personal growth. This sounds impossible but atleast some of it can be incorporated into Indian academic admission process.
One final note: All of this can be done iteratively and one can measure the progress of India's image, respect and glory in sports by having realistic targets say 10 medals in #Paris2024, 15 in #LA2028, 20 in #Brisbane2032.
