With the enormous size of India’s population, it surprises many that India is not a force at the Olympics. It is a bit baffling that India, with over one billion citizens, doesn’t seem to have much success in the Olympics.
There are many factors that India faces for not excelling in the sports arena. There are the problems of food for masses, literacy, employment and many other problems. The basic body structure of Indians is not as strong as their western counterparts and hence they are not good in sports which need physical strength. Again, maximum people in India see the sports as a fitness programme. We have to become professional in sports taking it like a job. To begin with, there is hardly any infrastructure and talent is not tapped. If it is tapped, it is not groomed well enough. Corruption also acts as a major impediment in bringing those good in to forefront.
It is cricket which is responsible for the poor performance in any other sports. Cricket is the most passionable form of entertainment for the masses. Cricket is played on every street in India. Go to the cities, villages, sea beaches, deserts, or mountains - everywhere one can find children playing cricket. People simply enjoy a time-consuming cricket match and don’t get other sports, and have an elitist attitude towards them. Government on the other hand does not encourage sports in proper way and improve infrastructure.
Again for most of Indians it is perfectly acceptable to just have a job; they are not encouraged to take up sports in school. The focus is on education only. Sports are considered as a hobby, but not a profession. Everybody wants to be a doctor or engineer. No one wants to take a risk because Indians cannot afford to fail. Society will ridicule them and they have the burden of family. Hence, our attitudes must be changed to excel in sports and to win more Olympics medals.