In the ongoing Summer Olympics, India has managed to get 6 medals so far, including 1 silver by Neeraj Chopra (the entire country was hoping for gold from him) and a bronze by the Men's Hockey team (second time in a row, after the Tokyo Olympics, which is very credible, though again all Indians were hoping for the Hockey team also to get Gold).
The story of the Olympics has not been great ever since India participated in the games from 1900 onwards (earlier as part of British India, until 1947) to the ongoing edition of 2024.
India has won a total of 41 medals so far.
In contrast, if you look at the China story, it gives a completely different picture. Both India and China became independent around the same time, but like in the economic development, they have been far more successful than India in the Sports arena.
How China has made a difference?
China, with a large population, emerged as a global sports power in the 1980s, excelling in table tennis. Notable success came in 1981 when the women's volleyball team won the World Cup, sparking nationwide excitement. Celebrations ensued, with chants of "revitalizing China." Following the first Olympic gold medal in 1984, China invested more in athlete training. Winning 15 gold medals in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, China began its journey to global sports dominance. Chinese athletes have since won around 120 gold medals annually in international tournaments.
China invests more in sports due to economic development, encouraging citizens to play sports. The government pledged to improve sports facilities' accessibility through the "Outline of National Fitness Program" in 1995. Sports Lottery tickets fund facility construction. Five-year plans since 2011 set targets for citizen participation. By 2025, 38.5% of the population should engage in regular sports activities. The plan aims for proximity to sports facilities and more coaches. Regular activities involve sports or workouts over three times a week. In 2021, 37.2% participated. China has 3.71 million public sports facilities. Various sports facilities cater to different preferences, like basketball courts and soccer fields. Square dancing is popular among seniors. Marathons have grown in popularity, with 1,800 held annually pre-pandemic. The sports industry's value reached 2.74 trillion yuan in 2020, intending to double by 2025.
Why India has been lacking?
India has remained glued to Hockey all along, primarily because of the initial success it got from that sport, until the early 1970s. From then on, the Indian Cricket team led by Ajit Wadekar started doing well in India and abroad spurred by the young talented players like Sunil Gavaskar, then the quartet of Indian spinners - Prasanna, Bedi, Chandrasekar & Venketsaghavan, which remained a potent force for nearly a decade. And then towards the late seventies and early eighties, players like Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Sandeep Patil and others made huge contributions to cricket in India, culminating in India winning the 1983 World Cup. This followed by the 1987 World Cup in India could be termed as the transformative moment of Indian cricket. And since then Cricket in India has become the national passion, pastime, business and everything. While this was happening, other sports in India have got very little support from the government or other private entities. It's only after the success of IPL, that we have some similar models being adopted by other sports like Hockey, Football, Kabbadi, Badminton etc. Chess is another sport that has gained a lot of popularity since Vishnathan Anand became a grandmaster and won major tournaments across the world. Despite all the exceptions, India has primarily remained not very focused on sports or physical activities compared the Western societies or even China.
On July 31st, 2024, The Hindu Newspaper published a nice data analysis of how India has been participating in the Olympics, let me share the first data table here.
Punjab and Haryana are the two states, dominating the participation of the Olympics since 2000. The other states that have managed to have a double-digit percentage of participation are TN, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharastra & Delhi but not consistently. The above table shows, that sports are not widespread across all the states at an equal level.
Now let's look at another data table; Certain types of sports are more played by Females while others are mainly played by gents. These may be influenced by the medal winners in those categories. For example, the Indian men's Hockey has been the most successful team throughout the Olympics journey so far. The credit for this goes to the early years of tremendous success in Hockey led by Dhaynchand and his contempories for several gold medals in successive Olympics.
The gender distribution of participation is more skewed towards males compared to females. The reason for this could be that more female participants have not been able to qualify for the Olympics, compared to their male counterparts.
While writing about this subject, I tried to look for policy documents for India, but sadly the efforts have been sporadic, which is graphically shown here.
The key milestones in the development of sports policy in India since 1954 include:
1954: Establishment of the All-India Council of Sports (AICS) to promote sports and advise the government on sports policy and funding.
1982: Creation of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), which introduced India's first National Sports Policy (NSP) and launched the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to develop coaches and sporting infrastructure.
2001: Launch of the updated National Sports Policy, aimed at promoting mass participation in sports and achieving excellence at national and international levels.
2011: Implementation of the National Sports Development Code, which aimed to improve governance and accountability in sports administration.
2014: Introduction of the National Youth Policy, which included a focus on sports and individual well-being for the youth.
2019: Launch of the Fit India Movement, aimed at promoting fitness and physical activity as integral parts of daily life in India
India faces several challenges in the systematization of its sports ecosystem, including:
Outdated Policies: The National Sports Policy, launched in 2001, is considered outdated and has not effectively adapted to the changing needs of the sports landscape, which hampers the development of a robust sports system.
Limited Budget and Resources: There is a limited budget allocated to elite sports, which affects the development of infrastructure and the training of athletes. This financial constraint restricts the ability to support a broader range of sports and athletes.
Poor Infrastructure: The lack of adequate sporting facilities and infrastructure is a significant barrier to both mass participation and elite performance in sports.
Ineffective Talent Identification: Programs like the Khelo India Youth Games have faced criticism for not effectively identifying and nurturing talented athletes from the vast talent pool in the country.
Governance Issues: There have been challenges related to ethics and good governance in sports administration, leading to the introduction of the draft National Code for Good Governance in Sports in 2017, which has yet to be fully adopted.
Focus on Cricket: The overwhelming focus on cricket has overshadowed other sports, leading to an imbalance in the development and support of various sporting disciplines.
Research Gaps: There is a lack of comprehensive research into the effectiveness of sports policies and programs, which limits the understanding of what works and what does not in the Indian context.
These challenges collectively hinder the progress and effectiveness of India's sports ecosystem, impacting both participation and performance at elite levels.
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