Tokyo Olympics 2020 – India’s best ever !

The Javelin was thrown 87.58 metres ….. and Neeraj Chopra made the Tokyo Olympics 2020, India’s best ever. With a 7 medal haul and the all important Gold medal in Athletics (Javelin) the country erupted in joy !

Olympics – Govt. Of India’s Role

As expected there were several “occasional” Indians who berated the athletes achievements, be-littled the Indian government’s efforts and spewed venom irrationally. This blog is not an answer to any of that. I really don’t want to waste time on “occasional” Indians like Dr. Tharoor and his colleagues from the CONgress and other anti-India outfits.

Here is what the GoI spent on one single athlete – Neeraj Chopra.

People better than me at calculations can add up the kind of costs that are incurred in getting a champion ready for the Olympics. Sports requires huge investments. For decades we have neglected sports because we were kept a “poor” country and we over-obsessed on Cricket. The kind of sporting talent that we have is no less than any other country.

Neeraj Chopra proved that with his Olympic gold. We have the talent, but we never had the political will nor the Government’s backing 🙁 till NOW.

Please look at the following infographic without the hatred for Mr. Modi clouding your eyes –

300% increase in the sports budget from 2011-12 …..

This is only the start ! I dream of India topping the medal tally in some Olympics. I know that will happen, but we also need to know that it takes time, sustained effort and huge support.

Choma Eagles

Yesterday we were out to meet with Col Pradeep, his wife and the 24 odd Choma Eagles. Choma is a village near old Gurgaon and the Choma Eagles are young girls from utterly poor backgrounds who play football, coached by Col Pradeep.

We visited one of the girls at her home as she was a little unwell. I was almost in tears. Just a few metres from a swanky mall lives this young girl in a 80 sq ft room.. playing football has changed her life and several other girls like her. They are stronger, mentally tougher and are studying in school so that the poverty cycle can be cut.

This is what sports can do !! It did that to Rani Rampal, our women’s hockey team captain An Inspiring Rani. Hockey changed her life completely. Look at Mirabai Chanu, P V Sindhu, Mary Kom, Vinesh Phogat, Aditi Ashok, Nethra Kumanan or the legendary P T Usha… their lives are totally transformed.

A huge lesson for parents – get your children to play some sport. Childhood obesity in the cities is a silent killer. Again, take inspiration from Neeraj Chopra. He weighed a whopping 80 kilos when he was 11 years old. Look at his transformation !

Congratulations to all the athletes for raising the bar. All of you have inspired a whole generation of young Indians with your performance. Thank you and wish you loads of success in your chosen sport.

Jai Hind.