The greatest sporting spectacle on earth …….the triumphs, disasters and what it meant for the Indian sports fans.. Never seemed to have had enough of Tokyo 2020.
The French Philosopher Albert Camus once said when the soul suffers too much it develops a taste for misfortune.The year the Olympics was scheduled to happen was the most dreaded year and our very being was truly shaken with the never before witnessed human tragedy unfolding before us in epic proportions and sport was the last thing in anyone’s mind.For the first time in history, Olympics stood cancelled in 2020 for reasons other than the world wars. It was a war of a different kind this time and the entire world was engaged in fighting battles to save lives as the invisible enemy was victoriously unleashing its brutal force in engulfing the people in alarming and horrifying numbers.
Neeraj Chopra: First athletics medal (a gold at that)
So sports rightly was not in anyone’s mind when being alive in itself was considered an achievement. The scientific world had to take center stage lest we face the doomsday of the human race which seemed to be on a race towards extinction if we didn’t have the required arsenal and armory to defend the enemy.
Luckily as the desired weapons in the form of vaccinations were on its way there was a glimmer of hope in the horizon and the games looked a possibility and the athletes who had trained with such grit and determination could afford to smile.
For the common man the immediate mission was to come out unscathed as he was tired of seeing the loss of dear and near ones all around and a pall of gloom had descended down the planet and he had got used to being stuck in the bubble and waiting to come out bursting it.
With the threat of delta and a dozen other variants looming large he braced himself to get distracted from the problems of the mundane world and get immersed in the sporting world to root for his countrymen in the multifarious disciplines they featured.
Whatever said and done the heightened moments of mass ecstasy and joy can be experienced only in a sporting arena notwithstanding the empty seats which was new to an event of this magnitude. Somehow the games had to begin despite the local protests in the streets of the land of the rising sun.
Well as an avid Indian sports fan I knew India would do much better than the fiasco in Rio De Janeiro. As a nation we always have huge expectations and we have the habit of wishing every participant to come back with that elusive gold medal without realistically analyzing their chances in such global events.
Mirabai Chanu: First silver in weight-lifting
The entire nation starved of any recent global success went into a hysteria and delirium when Mira Bhai Chanu won her first silver medal. It is an excruciating and harrowing fact that in India no one would have known her before she had clinched that all important piece of metal. Millions would google to find out the oft repeated story of our stars as to how they were below poverty line and had to travel miles for their practise and would invariably be from inaccessible and distant villages devoid of electricity.
The nation would start reading about their extraordinary journey of rising to their pinnacle and mostly they could not have even afforded running shoes or any other necessary equipment as is always the case. We need multiple organisations like the JSW or the Inspire Institute of Sport etc participating in their initial journey when they are yet to make a mark in whatever they chose to do.
Our nation definitely celebrates their success in gigantic proportions. Picabo Street the American Alpine Ski Racer rightly said “ To uncover your true potential you must first find your own limits and then you would find courage to blow past them. Sure Mirabhai had the courage to find what was her limitations and blow past her debacle in Rio. She lifted the weight off the chest of the entire nation in making the first entry in the medal tally. It was the case of truly well begun and it augured well for the future prospects of India.
We Indians are a sports crazy nation in terms of watching it and may be we would beat contestants of other countries in rattling out statistics about Olympics or any sports trivia for that matter. But as several memes were circulating we want our children to excel in academics and board the next available flight to the US but longingly hope and pray that any Indian whom we dint even know the day before has to somehow stand on the podium and bag that piece of metal. With more than two hundred countries participating it is even difficult to comprehend how herculean the task can be to stand on that podium. Despite years of sweat, blood and toil it takes few minutes to catapult these Athletes to unimaginable glory or to the depths of ignominy.
PV Sindhu Beats He Bing Jiao To Win Historic Bronze At Tokyo Olympics
Carl Lewis the legendary American track and Field Athlete said it is all about the journey and not the outcome. According to me, if the outcome is not great there are no listeners to hear the story of your arduous journey. In that way the world knows the story of our invincible Sindu for she succeeded in creating some extraordinary outcomes in her chosen sport.
Our hearts sank when she lost to the uncanny Tai Tzu Ying. Before we plummeted into depths of depression she came back remarkably in the bronze medal match to beat the Chinese. After we heaved a sigh of relief we knew in our hearts that she stood a realistic chance at the Gold but the women from Chinese Taipeh seemed on that day to be in an all together different level deception game.
When I observed Vijay Dahiya the thing that immediately striked me was that he seemed to be a man on a mission and would seldom smile at a day in office and it looked like all he wanted was the yellow metal. His comeback in the semi final bout had all the ingredients of an edge of the seat thriller and definitely not suggested for viewers with fluctuations in their pressure. Sometimes with so much nervousness we tend to switch channels and come back later to know the results. His bouts did all the talking and I like the fact that after he reluctantly took the silver medal all he wanted was infrastructure facilities for his village. Again another familiar story. We cant help but think that while the world has travelled far our villages still languish for power, water and proper roads. Sure now it would all be catered to as the adage goes the world listens to the woes of the winners.
While all these adrenaline pumping actions were happening on one side of the spectrum, there was a glimmer of hope for our hockey teams. After the initial thrashing by the Aussies and just when we were preparing for the usual story the whole nation went berserk by the resurgent men who went on beating any body who came their way after the initial defeat and sent the entire nation in jubilation.
The women’s hockey team was a revelation of sorts too. After the initial losses they too bounced back in style and the entire world took notice of them. By now we all were too familiar about their background and how they have battled all odds to get there. Couldn’t keep wondering about the artistry and the flamboyance of many of our women players. “Everyone said to Vincent Van Gogh, You cant be a great painter, you only have one ear.” And you know what he said ? “ I cant hear you.” May be our girls also dint hear what the world thought and said when they were about to face the mighty Aussies.
Probably they said we have not heard any of you. The whole media thought it would be a no contest and the girls dint stand a chance. The girls played such dazzling hockey and gave their everything and believed in themselves and the results were there for everyone to see. When they lost a close encounter to Argentina people lost sleep in India thinking about their semi final exit. Such was the interest created by the women after many decades. It was a sort of much needed resurrection and revival for the glorious game of hockey. Another close defeat at the hands of Great Britain was also impossible to digest and tears rolled down our eyes too but the nation took consolation in the earlier nail biting encounter of the men’s third place match when they beat the gritty Germans for a bronze after four long decades thus rewriting history and scripting a new beginning and chapter in the history of Indian Hockey. The whole nation was rejoicing in a festive spirit and finally the game was getting new lease of life and it was long overdue for this remarkable sport. Well she was Lovlina who ?? before she progressed to the semi finals but by her gutsy performance Borgohain became a household name in India and courtesy Lovlina her far flung village in Assam would get the much needed basic infrastructure and facelift. Another familiar story of the place getting noticed after someone emerging victorious from their place and getting the much needed uplift .
Another sport which suddenly hogged the limelight was golf and medals coming from any corner was welcome and suddenly there was a huge clamour for additions to our medal tally. The scintillating display of Aditi Ashok raised the hopes of the country. In most sports we would reconcile to our fate of finishing 24th, 37th, 42nd and still nobody knew anything about Aditi till the beginning of the contest in Tokyo. May be during the course of the contest spread over 4 days the nation noticed the news of the young Indian placed in the second spot only behind the world No.1 Nelly Korda. The whole country woke up in the wee hours on the fourth day when it was three something and nervously said their prayers for Aditi to get that birdie and eagle. What an inspiring woman who made million sports fans learn about her sport by the way she swung her golf stick with such poise, gutso and gumption. She made our hearts sway as well and we were awe struck by her calm demeanour and her scintillating style. At that moment we knew the gen x is of a different mettle who knew no fear to literally take on the world. Here was an Indian who showed no nerves and was gunning for gold and far from the ever famous Indian aspiration of “At least a Bronze.” was not meant for her. Lady luck dint smile at her at the closing stages of the final day and it was agonising that she finished outside the medal contention and many of us plunged to sadness thinking that how close she was but her performance was simply heroic to say the least. Later there was some solace when Bajrang Punia who was expected to be a sure shot finalist had to make do with a bronze when he thrashed the opponent and won the bout 8-0.
As the games was drawing to a close and after many heartbreaks and some rapturous moments I dint want to have any expectation on Neeraj Chopra especially when you saw many world champions sink without a trace in Shooting and Archery. So decided to keep my expectations minimally and nervously turned on the television to witness what was to be one of the greatest moments in India’s sporting history. Was suddenly thinking of Abhinav Bindra who did everything from simulation techniques to drinking yak’s milk and literally all that is there in the universe to get his hand on that elusive individual gold which was simply out of reach of any Indian till he managed to grab it with his extraordinary hard work and in his third Olympic appearance.
Seriously Neeraj was all of 23 and I dint know how he would respond to the expectations of a billion people. Part of being a Champ is acting like a Champion said Nancy Kerrigan, the American figure skater. When Neeraj entered the stadium on that day I found him exude all poise and confidence as he had thrown the farthest in the qualifying. But we have seen many fizzle out in the finals due to nerves and we have to find solace in the numerous excuses saying that they lacked international exposure or practise and the occasion got the better of them kind of things.
But surprising on 7th August it was not the familiar story unfolding which we have always got used to. Only the strongest shoulders can carry the hopes of the entire nation said Kate Taylor, an Irish Boxer and 2012 gold medallist. Carry he did the hopes of the entire nation and that too with such invincible supremacy. He was destined to give the nation some of the heightened moments of our lives. We stood entranced by his first throw of 87 metres and it seemed that the other competitors were suffering from baffled haplessness and by his second throw of 87.58 metres we would like to believe that the other competitors were slowly becoming nervous wrecks and one Mr. Vetter was made to eat his words. How incredible that our man gave him a masterclass in throwing and his genius stood out magnificently on the day which mattered.
This is definitely championship mettle and what peaking at the right time is all about. The nation became enraptured and his second throw especially was jaw droppingly awesome and seemed to have crossed the impassable boundaries. At least for the few golden minutes on that day we also seemed to have thrown and flung all our worries and troubles into a great distance and every sports fan wanted to sink, soak and immerse in the moment for not many a time we have witnessed any Indian outfox his opponents in such a convincing manner. We all screamed in exhilaration the moment the last of the throwers failed to go past behind that magical 87.58 metres and the nation stood dazed at this believe it or not moment of India finally winning an Olympic Gold in Athletics. Thank you Neeraj for making us go through a gamut of emotions never before experienced.
Our future medal hopes lies in those who finished from 4th to 24th. As always in life the victors are appreciated in prolific prose and the vanquished perish and suffer in loneliness. Let us also pay heed to stories of those who failed to win a medal and reflect on what went wrong instead of what they did wrong. Let us in future bestow them with everything that they had requested for in terms of physiotherapists, psychologists, or personal trainers and though winning seemed to be the only thing we need to salute every single Olympian who gave their life and beyond in trying to bring laurels for our great nation. Thank you all Champs for making us so ecstatic in this special month of an ever so extraordinary year
