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Tuesday, August 23, 2016

A Saga of Excellence


We are doing what we are best at! Beating the chest over the spilt milk and engaging in endless debates. You guessed it right. The debacle of Rio Olympics stares at the face of world’s one sixth population with just two medals that too mostly due to individual effort and hard work. Ever since a child fond of sports, the glories of Olympics had drawn me to the games and watch those with an interest like no other. The official assurances of medals before every event were like an assurance of the official machinery fully geared up to meet the calamities like floods, drought and other disasters.

We find it hard to acknowledge that we are not a sporting nation in the sense one is supposed to be. The only game the country plays is Cricket for which there is never a drought of funds. All other sports pale into insignificance. Generations have only played Ludo and Snake and Ladder at home when it comes to sports.

The pleasure of watching Usian Bolt lifting the Gold three times in Rio and repeating the feat for the third time since Beijing and London Olympics was exhilarating. Jamaica had the unique distinction of producing the fastest man Usian Bolt and Eliane Thompson(woman) on the earth, despite its meager GDP. In fact the number of times the runners from countries like Nigeria, Kenya and Ethopia crashed the hopes of much richer and bigger nations, was a perfect example of what dedication is all about and what matters is grooming and encouraging the sportsmen.US team found it hard to digest that their team was technically disqualified in 4x100m relay despite a great performance. The cliff hanger suspense of watching Brazil defeat Germany in ‘penalty shootout’ finals of Football and likewise Argentina beating mighty Belgian team in the Hockey finals showed the mettle of teams participating in these events. Santiago Lange of Argentina  won the Gold medal in Sailing , despite having lost one lung to Cancer last year at the age of 54!There could be no better example of grit and determination when age becomes just a number.

The sensational Simon Biles and Michael Phelps set the Olympic stage on fire with their soul alleviating performances. Born to parents with a history of drug abuse, Simon was picked up early and groomed into a sensational artistic gymnast who won four gold medals and a bronze. Joseph Schooling of Singapore who met his mentor Michael Philips when he was 10 year old, beat him at his own game of Swimming in 100m Butterfly event. He got the first ever Gold medal for Singapore at the age of 21, pushing his mentor Michael Phelps to Silver medal.


The Rio Olympics has been an event not to be missed for the number of records that were broken and exhibition of the finest sports that one can think of. The true sportsmanship was amply exhibited when the losers gracefully hugged the ones who won. Carolina Marin who defeated PV Sindhu in the Women’s Badminton Final was hugged by Sindhu and she in turn was magnanimous to hug even Gopinath the Indian coach after the win. It is rare to see such humane gestures in today’s cut throat world. Such events are a reminder that excellence in any field is what ultimately pays dividends and all else gets lost in oblivion

PS: Image Kind Courtesy Google

20 comments:

  1. Amazing post Raul sir, that's what is Indian sports now vastly our mindset has to change and ofcourse officials have to be more dedicated!

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    1. Thank you Ramya for that precise summary. It is all about the mindset and dedication that can make the difference:)

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  2. i agree - the grace and sportsmanship shown by some players - touching

    The search for excellence is not an easy one

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    1. It was a treat to watch the best of the human spirit on display and excellence comes only with a lot of sweat as you rightly said Sujatha!

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  3. Yes, they teach us so much with these humane gestures. I hope the kids are picking these up.

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    1. Lucky we are to learn so much from others who displayed the best of the gestures,Rachna.

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  4. I too noticed many instances of humane gesture in this Rio Olympics. I have never watched these many matches/sports in the earlier Olympics. I think more people are interested in Olympics now and might start encouraging their children to pursue sports seriously, in the future.

    Whenever I watch 'India has got talent' TV programme (forget the loud overacting by the judges) I felt sad that these children are not helped to take sports/other talents seriously and become famous.

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    1. True Sandhya these games gave us a huge opportunity to learn. What we need is focus and dedication.

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  5. The true worth of sports lies in the sporting spirit I think.

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  6. After ignoring all the other sports for cricket, we lament and rue the fact that we returned with just two medals. Do our athletes even have one tenth of the facilities the other countries have? Infact I will go as far as saying that do we even know which athletes represented us for the different events?

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    1. Unfortunately our priorities are mixed up and we some how believe that like instant coffee we will be rewarded medals by shortcuts. Sad:(

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  7. Some amazing stories there. Hardships do bring out the best sometimes.

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    1. The stories behind some of the feats achieved gives goosebumps just to imagine the struggle and toil involved to earn the medal, Alka.

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  8. Our athletes won medals despite the poor infrastructure and hardships. Kudos to them! This Rio Olympics has some very inspiring stories.

    I read this article today:

    http://m.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11699589

    It's a pity that even international media is trolling us!

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  9. Thanbk you Divya for reading and sending me the link! What has been written is sadly true:(

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  10. The Olympics is an arena where the finest compete. Some of them triumph, the rest go back with a stronger resolve to win.

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  11. I think there is more awareness now that India can excel at other sports as well and that we are in need of good facilities and dedicated authorities as well...This will hopefully pave the way for better sporting days in the country

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    1. Amen Jaishree! Would love to see things change for better

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