My
first memory of Olympics was in the year 1988. I was 9 years old then and was
excited at watching so many games happening simultaneously. I was equally excited
at watching it live on TV. The next memory I have of Olympics is 1996 when I
saw a teary eyed Leander on the podium after clinching a Bronze medal in Men’s
singles Tennis, ending our medal drought. The last medal India had won before
that was in the 1980 Moscow games. Since then, we have been consistently
winning only 1 medal every Olympics except 2008 when we won 3. In fact, India
has won only a total of 20 medals in all the Olympics it has participated since
1900. It is, indeed, a shame that a country with over a Billion people and so many
resources at its disposal has won so little at the Olympics. So, what is it
about London 2012 that excites me?
First
and foremost, I think this is India’s best chance of coming back with its
biggest haul of medals in its Olympic history. And India has athletes from
different fields that are capable of winning a medal. Our best performance till
date was at Beijing 4 years back when we won a rich haul of 3 medals (1 Gold
& 2 Bronze) from Shooting, Wrestling and Boxing events. This time around we
have medal hopes from many other events like Badminton, Tennis, Archery,
Shooting, Wrestling, Boxing and Hockey.
Secondly,
this year’s Olympics would be held in London. This city, to me, is the most
beautiful city in the world with a lot of history, culture and traditions. The
open spaces, the parks, the people. It is absolutely lovely there. I have been
there once in the past and how I wish that I would get another chance to go
there.
Finally
& equally importantly, the spirit of Olympics and sports. It is always lovely
to watch sportspersons from different nations keep their animosities behind and
come together to play the sport in the best spirit. This is a place where
friendships are formed, partnerships are made and more importantly, humanity
realised.
I
would love to be part of at least 1 Olympic games in my life to see them all
first hand and share my experiences with my grandchildren. Will it happen? Only
time will tell. Till such time, all I want to do is look forward to this year’s
games and see my beloved country come back with its richest haul ever and the
games being held in the best spirit.
2 comments:
I hope we win many more medals in this Olympics than all the years so far; that's a bit too much to expect for a country that has happily enjoyed a rare combination of single digits - 1 billion population & 3 medals. Good luck to players :)
Along with the effort of the participants, it’s the spirit/support of the country that should motivate the players to give their best. The number of controversies hovering over certain sports and sports person is condemnable. We as a country have a lot of expectations from the sports/participant who wins a medal for the country, eg: Tennis, Shooting. It’s high time the people (Sports Authority and common man) give equal importance and reward to people from all forms of sports. This would certainly ensure we win medal/s every time the country plays.
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