38 Golds, whats next for India?

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How many of you know Samaresh Jung? He was nicknamed Goldfinger for his 5 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze wins in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. But two years after this spectacular performance Samaresh, an Indian shooter and Arjuna Award winner, failed to reach either of the finals of the two events he participated in at the Beijing Olympics.

India’s 38 gold medal and 101 total medal tally in the 2010 Commonwealth Games is a great achievement. It is fantastic to see sports personalities other than cricketers receive love and attention from the media and public. It is well deserved.

But will this achievement be the first step of a platform on which future Indian sportsmen and women will succeed or will it be another lonely moment of Indian glory we will talk about for years? Are we destined to be like England, still talking about their 1966 football World Cup win?

The impact of India’s recent success depends on how we build on this momentum and confidence at the 2012 Olympics in London. Two years is a very short time and if we don’t start planning soon we’ll fall into a slump and end up with one or two medals at best.

So who is looking after that mission and what are their plans?

We need a Mission Committee that lays out a concrete plan for the next two years that asks and answers the right questions.

  1. What should be our realistic medal tally goal?
  2. In which sports can we shine?
  3. Who are the athletes we need to identify and develop?
  4. What support, facilities and finances do these athletes need?

When China won its bid to host the 2008 Olympics the mission was to become the medal tally winner and the country’s athletes achieved it. India needs that kind of mission, led by committee that is well-funded, disconnected from politics and has full authority to run things the way they want without outside pressure.

More than anything else it needs a leader who can get things done. A person with the dynamism of Lalit Modi, the knowledge of Sunil Gavaskar and Harsha Bhogle or the sporting passion of yours truly.

Let’s not make Gagan Narang the next Samaresh Jung. Let’s begin a new era.

This blog was published at www.gqindia.com http://www.gqindia.com/content/38-golds-whats-next-india

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