Indian Olympic Odyssey 2012
Avvai Shanmuki, a Kamal Hasan starerrer ( Tamil ) was released in 1996. There is a scene where Kamal playing a female lead role, picks up Gemini Ganesan ( lifts him) , the heroine’s father and rushes him to the hospital . This act gets appreaciation from the Doctor who tells “ you should participate in the Olympics” for your weight lifting skills.. You will get a gold medal .. It has been sixteen years since but we are yet to see that happen in reality . Did the Director of the film know what was coming ?
India wins two shooting medals in 2012 edition. Vijayakumar a silver and Gagan Narang a Bronze. Panel Discussion in a leading news Channel. The Moderator says ,India is a powerhouse in Shooting ( how can you describe this so easily Mr. Moderator ) – luckily , Rajyavardhan Rathore , himself a silver medalist from the Athens 2004 edition and part of the show, chipped in and said “ being a potential powerhouse is very different to a powerhouse . Yes , India has the potential – thanks for putting the right perspective rather than falling for the hype that our channels are now famous for.
India did extremely well compared to the Beijing 2008 edition. Six medals compared to the three that we won in 2008. ( Abhinav Binda Bindra got the gold, Sushil Kumar and Vijendar won the bronzes.)
We had six medals in the 2012 edition and that is a whopping increase. One must be happy at the doubling of the medals… Great show by Vijaykumar, Sushil ( again ) , Yogeshwar , Saina , Marykom, Gagan Narang.But is it good enough ? Not at all , considering the population and the talent that is available… We all know what ails our system and probably know what needs to be done but we would do nothing to fix it. s , The link to this article will tell you lot of things .
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article3751107.ece
Some of you may have read this earlier as well….
To me there were some outstanding performances that I thought I should share and these winners have gone on to win only with single minded effort of dedication , effort and the will to win. There may be more but this is my concised list :
Im Dong-Hyun is a South Korean archer. He competes for the South Korean national team. He has 20/200 vision in his left eye and 20/100 vision in his right eye, meaning he needs to be 10 times closer to see objects clearly, with his left eye, compared to someone with perfect vision. He won a bronze in the team event.
Taoufik Makhloufi This Algerian won the 1500 metres Gold but not without a big struggle. He was disqualified in the 800 metres qualification for not running ! he came up with a medical certificate indicating injury and that absolved him of the disqualification and paved way for his participation in the 1500 metres which he won with no discomfort of the injury that forced him out of the 800 metres qualifiers… What strategy was that ?
Usain Bolt – The run up to the Olympics had this great Champion in trouble to the extent that he was not expected to win .. But what he did on the track on the 100 metres and 200 metres and in the 4X100 relay was just astonishing. Waiting to watch the 100 metres at 2:20 AM IST was worth the wait for the way , the Jamaican pounded the track with his speed, agility and actually won with ease. No one can argue as to who is the fastest for some time to come… winning the same events in two Olympics is not easy at all … The discussion stops !
Michael Phelps The most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (18, double that of the next highest record holders) !
Mohammed Farah :2012 Double Olympic champion:On 4 August 2012, Farah won the 10,000 m gold His training partner, Galen Rupp of the United States, took second place. Both are coached by Alberto Salazar. Farah made it a long-distance double, winning the 5000 metres. Mo Farah won because of the regime that he had to follow put in by Salazar which ranged from the various technologies Salazar has experimented with, and developed, from the underwater treadmill ( yes, underwater treadmill ) to the cryosauna, which is supposed to be quicker and more effective than the traditional ice bath in soothing the injured athlete . Salazar is unrepentant and unremitting in pursuit of the dream for himself and his athletes.
The Russia Men’s Volleyball team deserves mention—Down by two sets in the gold medal deciding match, they fought back to win in five sets to win the gold. They were very close to losing – trailing 18-22 in the third set , winning it 29-27 .. The Russians simply will did not give up.
And many more …..
The Indian medal winners had the same focus , determination , the sight on the medal and that is why they landed up there. Saina fought all her matches like a Tigress, chasing the shuttle and putting it back across the net. No wonder she was a medal winner. I watched Sushil kumar on the final day of the Olympic event and I thought he did a great job. He was ready for the medal. The body language , confidence in the bouts said it all. In the Semifinal , I thought he lost it when his opponent took a 3- 0 lead in the final round . Sushil showed remarkable fight back qualities and won the bout. A gold medal was in the offing but his Japanese opponent proved to be much more ready than Sushil was for the final. Yet , a Great Silver result. Mary Kom was tipped for the Gold but ended with a medal . Again, the effort and focus of Mary Kom was so visible in her fights.
We need more of the Sainas, Marykoms, Sushil – to live the dream of winning Olympic glory. What we do not want is the hopes and hype of gaining glory without being backed by performance. I have avoided Mahesh and Leander who probably started the Indian Odyssey at the Olympics on a wrong note by creating the controversy with whom they will play… Did they react after their losses ? They better not. Than , there is this long jumper who went and fouled all his three attempts. Common , you go all the way , to foul your attempts ! Did this long jumper have any explnation ?
Hope is good but simply cannot be the strategy for the IOA to get medals in the future.
India wins two shooting medals in 2012 edition. Vijayakumar a silver and Gagan Narang a Bronze. Panel Discussion in a leading news Channel. The Moderator says ,India is a powerhouse in Shooting ( how can you describe this so easily Mr. Moderator ) – luckily , Rajyavardhan Rathore , himself a silver medalist from the Athens 2004 edition and part of the show, chipped in and said “ being a potential powerhouse is very different to a powerhouse . Yes , India has the potential – thanks for putting the right perspective rather than falling for the hype that our channels are now famous for.
India did extremely well compared to the Beijing 2008 edition. Six medals compared to the three that we won in 2008. ( Abhinav Binda Bindra got the gold, Sushil Kumar and Vijendar won the bronzes.)
We had six medals in the 2012 edition and that is a whopping increase. One must be happy at the doubling of the medals… Great show by Vijaykumar, Sushil ( again ) , Yogeshwar , Saina , Marykom, Gagan Narang.But is it good enough ? Not at all , considering the population and the talent that is available… We all know what ails our system and probably know what needs to be done but we would do nothing to fix it. s , The link to this article will tell you lot of things .
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article3751107.ece
Some of you may have read this earlier as well….
To me there were some outstanding performances that I thought I should share and these winners have gone on to win only with single minded effort of dedication , effort and the will to win. There may be more but this is my concised list :
Im Dong-Hyun is a South Korean archer. He competes for the South Korean national team. He has 20/200 vision in his left eye and 20/100 vision in his right eye, meaning he needs to be 10 times closer to see objects clearly, with his left eye, compared to someone with perfect vision. He won a bronze in the team event.
Taoufik Makhloufi This Algerian won the 1500 metres Gold but not without a big struggle. He was disqualified in the 800 metres qualification for not running ! he came up with a medical certificate indicating injury and that absolved him of the disqualification and paved way for his participation in the 1500 metres which he won with no discomfort of the injury that forced him out of the 800 metres qualifiers… What strategy was that ?
Usain Bolt – The run up to the Olympics had this great Champion in trouble to the extent that he was not expected to win .. But what he did on the track on the 100 metres and 200 metres and in the 4X100 relay was just astonishing. Waiting to watch the 100 metres at 2:20 AM IST was worth the wait for the way , the Jamaican pounded the track with his speed, agility and actually won with ease. No one can argue as to who is the fastest for some time to come… winning the same events in two Olympics is not easy at all … The discussion stops !
Michael Phelps The most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (18, double that of the next highest record holders) !
Mohammed Farah :2012 Double Olympic champion:On 4 August 2012, Farah won the 10,000 m gold His training partner, Galen Rupp of the United States, took second place. Both are coached by Alberto Salazar. Farah made it a long-distance double, winning the 5000 metres. Mo Farah won because of the regime that he had to follow put in by Salazar which ranged from the various technologies Salazar has experimented with, and developed, from the underwater treadmill ( yes, underwater treadmill ) to the cryosauna, which is supposed to be quicker and more effective than the traditional ice bath in soothing the injured athlete . Salazar is unrepentant and unremitting in pursuit of the dream for himself and his athletes.
The Russia Men’s Volleyball team deserves mention—Down by two sets in the gold medal deciding match, they fought back to win in five sets to win the gold. They were very close to losing – trailing 18-22 in the third set , winning it 29-27 .. The Russians simply will did not give up.
And many more …..
The Indian medal winners had the same focus , determination , the sight on the medal and that is why they landed up there. Saina fought all her matches like a Tigress, chasing the shuttle and putting it back across the net. No wonder she was a medal winner. I watched Sushil kumar on the final day of the Olympic event and I thought he did a great job. He was ready for the medal. The body language , confidence in the bouts said it all. In the Semifinal , I thought he lost it when his opponent took a 3- 0 lead in the final round . Sushil showed remarkable fight back qualities and won the bout. A gold medal was in the offing but his Japanese opponent proved to be much more ready than Sushil was for the final. Yet , a Great Silver result. Mary Kom was tipped for the Gold but ended with a medal . Again, the effort and focus of Mary Kom was so visible in her fights.
We need more of the Sainas, Marykoms, Sushil – to live the dream of winning Olympic glory. What we do not want is the hopes and hype of gaining glory without being backed by performance. I have avoided Mahesh and Leander who probably started the Indian Odyssey at the Olympics on a wrong note by creating the controversy with whom they will play… Did they react after their losses ? They better not. Than , there is this long jumper who went and fouled all his three attempts. Common , you go all the way , to foul your attempts ! Did this long jumper have any explnation ?
Hope is good but simply cannot be the strategy for the IOA to get medals in the future.
Comments
Neat and good review on Olympic games
Indian players are worth much more but we need good back up
We need to come out of the cricket cloud and concentrate on other games too
Paes and Bhupathi- good punch
Keep going
Notable hypes - Tennis foursome,
Mystery best forgotten - Women's archery,
Shooting in the dark - Men's ex-gold medallist,
Ordinary proved as extra-ordinarily ordinary - Men's hockey,