Posted On: 2021-08-18 13:07:36
The Tokyo Olympics 2020
The Tokyo Summer Olympics which was scheduled to be held from 23rd July to 4th August 2020 in Tokyo, Japan was postponed due to the Covid19 Pandemic. This was the first time that the Olympics were rescheduled and not canceled. The Tokyo Olympics was rescheduled to 23rd July 2021 to 8th August 2021. India sent its strong and large contingent of 228 members which included a total of 127 participants, extras, coaches, doctors, and support staff for 18 sports.
Indian athletes made the country proud in this Olympics by winning not one, not two but a total of seven medals. Three of the medals were won by individual female athletes, three by male athletes, and one by the hockey team. Among the seven medals, four were bronze which was won by PV Sindhu in Badminton, Lovlina Borgohain in women’s welterweight Boxing, Bajrang Punia in Men’s freestyle 65 kg wrestling, and by the Indian Men’s hockey team which was won after a 41-year wait. Two silver medals were won by Mirabai Chanu in Women’s Weightlifting 49kg and by Ravi Kumar in Men’s freestyle 57 kg wrestling. The long-awaited Gold medal in athletics was won by Neeraj Chopra with a distance of 87.58 m after 121-years which was a proud moment for the country.
Though we get pride in saying that we won seven medals but on the dull side the fact is that we just got seven medals with a population of 1.3 billion which is pretty less compared to other countries. The United States of America with a population which is 1/4th of India won 113 medals and although Jamaica being the slowest developing country in the world with a population of 29.5 lakhs won 9 medals in the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Every athlete made India proud
Many known athletes who did not win but made records that made India Proud. CA Bhavani Devi became the first Indian to ever qualify for the Olympics and win a match, rowers Arjun Jat and Arvind Singh became the first-ever Indian pair to qualify for men’s lightweight double sculls semifinals, Fouaad Mirza became the first equestrian(skilled in riding with horses) to qualify for the Olympics in 20 years, Nethra Kumanan became the first Indian woman sailor, followed by the Indian women’s Hockey team who entered the semifinals for the first time in history but lost by a point in the bronze medal match. Many athletes made India proud in other ways like the bravery Shiv Kumar showed when he entered the ring with 13 stitches on his face, Aditi Ashok finished 4th in her final golfing match, Kamalpreet Kaur who finished 6th in women’s discus throw, Deepak Punia gave his best in the wrestling 86kg category, and the list goes on.
India ended on the 48th rank at the end of the Olympics which is the best rank in the last four decades.
Sports in India
The national sport of India is 'Hockey' which is known to everyone just because it was taught to us in the General Knowledge lecture in our primary school. Although hockey is the national sport, cricket is the most popular and most supported sport in the nation. The craze of cricket in the country is so much that in every house, you will find at least one fan of cricket. The only drawback of the craze of cricket is that no other sport is much recognized, cheered for, and in many cases even considered inferior in the eyes of fans.
But despite the international recognition of cricket, most parents do not allow their kids to take up a career in it. Talking about other sports, there is minimum emotional as well as financial support provided to the individual looking forward to being a part of the Indian sports team professionally. The main reason behind parents not allowing their children to take up any sort of sports professionally is that there is no fixed income and stability in playing any sports professionally and the financial investment is more in the initial stage and finding support from different sports clubs and sponsors is tough. Another reason why sports in India are not much established and flourished is that the funds allotted from the government to sports are barely sufficient. And in many cases, the funds allotted by the clubs and sponsors do not reach the athlete. People don’t realize that just like other professions, sports also play an important role in sculpting the nation.
Female athletes
Due to the backward mentality of the Indian society, though it is the 21st-century female athletes are given less chance and support to pursue sports. Female Athletes barely get family support, many of the families start supporting these athletes after they win a title.
Every sportswoman admits that her fellow male player is treated superiorly whether it is in terms of their stay in competitions, or training, or in getting paid. Many female athletes suffer at the hands of their overbearing officials where these officials look forward to making fun of these girls and embarrass them. In the past, many of these officials have molested athletes, after the implementation of various rules for the protection of female athletes, these cases have decreased. The official universal uniform that some female athletes have to wear for some particular sports is often a bit revealing which a lot of times leads to being judged and sl*t- shamed not just by outsiders but also their family members. Breaking the stereotypes, the German women’s Gymnastics team consisting of Sarah Voss, Pauline Schaefer-Betz, Elisabeth Seitz, and Kim Bui wore full-length unitards instead of bikini-cut unitards in qualifications while taking a stand against the sexualization in sports.
Another Hurdle is that female athletes are unable to play after a certain period. One can see ample proof in history that proves that female athletes retire way before male athletes. But in some cases, women fight to stay in the sport till they are ready to retire on their own, just like Oksana Chusovitina who is a 46-year-old female gymnast from Uzbekistan and the oldest woman to compete in Olympics. It is also said that anxiety and depression are more common in women than in men. Also, 6 to 45% of female athletes face eating disorders while men only face 0 to 19 %, according to "IOC Mental Health in Elite Athletes Toolkit" which is one of the many struggles that female athletes have to face. According to the survey done by BBC, 42% of sports fans admit that watching female athletes play is boring and is a waste of time which affects the gameplay of the female athletes as they are discouraged and undervalued. These barriers are not just faced by the Indian female athletes but faced by the female athletes in many countries.
The inferiority to female athletes is evident, where the men’s hockey team even before winning was known to many, but the name of the women’s hockey team was known to all after making history in the Olympics. Although the female cricket team is not a part of the Olympics, they weren’t much recognized in the past as the men’s team.
Crowdfunding in the life of the athletes of the Tokyo Olympics
Crowdfunding is known as the practice to support anyone’s genuine cause by raising small amounts of money from several people. The sports in our country are costly, from training, diet, the sports kit of a particular sport to the cost of entry in competitions and uniform, each one of these needs cost thousands. For a single individual to bear such expenses while being unsure of the future and success in the field is tough. Through crowdfunding, this hurdle is lowered and in some cases cleared for any individual who has the spirit in them of becoming a sportsperson.
Many athletes representing India in the Tokyo Olympics 2021 have been crowdfunded or supported at some point in their life.
The captain of the history-making Indian women’s hockey team ‘Rani Rampal’, inspiring ‘Kamalpreet Kaur’ representing in the discus throw, shooter ‘Anjum Moudgil’ is supported by GoSports Foundation under Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship program along with the Indian Fencer who made history in the Tokyo Olympics 2021 by being the first Indian fencer to qualify, C.A. Bhavani who is also sponsored by KIIT (Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology) University which also supports hockey player Dutee Chand. Olympic Shooter, Mairaj Ahmed Khan, is sponsored by MAK Shooting Foundation, which beliefs in supporting every athlete aspiring to take up skeet shooting.
The State Government of Odisha believed in the players of the Hockey team and they wholeheartedly sponsored and supported both Men’s and Women’s Hockey team not only during the Olympics but for more than 4 years and kept their name hidden till it was time to stand by the teams’ side and appreciate them.
Pravin Ramesh Jadhav, the Indian archer comes from a below poverty line family. His family struggled to make ends meet and supporting Pravin’s dream was impossible for them. Looking at the burning spirit within Pravin, his school teacher Vikas Bhujbal took responsibility and bore the expenses of his training and diet. Praniti Nayak, the artistic gymnast has been trained since she was 8 by her coach who paid the expenses of her education and living expenses in Kolkata where she was being trained.
Every player selected for the Olympics is supported under TOPS(Target Olympic Podium Scheme), a flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports that finances the players, and takes care of their health, diet, and training from expert coaches. More than 191 athletes are supported under TOPS.
Due to the backward mentality of people living in the rural areas, living with the fear of being judged by society Annu Rani was forbidden by her father to play any sports. But her brother encouraged her and paid for her training in Javelin Throw. Her brother’s belief in Annu gave Indian a gem of a player who represented the country in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Not only Annu Rani but also there are many players whose parents and the people believing in their game took financial risks for them, just to support their dream of becoming an athlete.
All the supporters of these athletes are a form of crowdfunding where they are crowdfunding the athlete’s talent.
Support the champions
Just like the sponsors of these Olympic champions, Divyang Wheelchair Cricket Association & Swayamsiddhha Swayarojgar Apang Punarvasan Sanstha plans to celebrate World Disability Day, as World Disability Wheelchair Cricket Championship for wheelchair cricketers, under the Aegis of Divyang Cricket Control Board of India. They need your help to organize the event.
Know more at https://filaantro.org/fundraiser/view/support-to-wheelchaircricket
Though there is instability in taking sports as a professional career, it has a lot of scope in it. And through the mentality of the parents of today’s generation, playing sports professionally gives a chance to the individual to get a government job. One should support sports as it is equally important for the growth of the country. There should be more policies implemented by the government to support the raw talent of youngsters in sports and shape them into professional athletes.
India is a country with a population of 1.3 billion people and in this country, you can find the raw talent of sports at every corner. Even after limited support, India won 7 medals. By this ratio, you can imagine how many medals can be bagged if the sports in our country are supported and appreciated. Let’s take a pledge today and let’s take a step towards the betterment of sports in our country by supporting every sports person we know of and by doing this, you can help them chase their dreams and win a medal for India.
“Talent hits the target like no one else, let us support the talents of our country and prevent it from going in vain.”
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Author : Hritika Singh
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