Road To LA: Episode 5

Today, August 29th, marks National Sports Day—and there's no better way to commemorate it than by examining India's ongoing journey toward the LA Olympics. While fans experience a rollercoaster of emotions watching the performances, imagine the journey for the sportspersons who persist despite administrative lapses and official apathy.

We are re in that familiar phase of the Olympic cycle: the surge from Paris 2024 has settled, while momentum for LA 2028 has yet to build. Meanwhile, competitions continue in relative quiet, away from the spotlight.

Here is a rundown of Indian sports in the last few months - the highs, the lows, and everything in between.

The Neeraj Chopra Phenomenon

When a second-place finish at the Diamond League finale barely registers as news, you know an athlete has truly transcended expectations. He has breached the 90m mark and maintained a remarkable four-year streak of top-two finishes globally. But perhaps his greatest achievement this year was launching the Neeraj Chopra Classic - tournament that could reshape India's athletics landscape.  Now comes the real test: can our sporting administration build on his foundation?

Athletics

Indian athletics is showing visible progress with National records tumbling frequently. Yet we remain decades behind in most events. The gap is closing, but slowly - progress that demands patience.

Football

Indian football presents a study in contrasts. The women's team has qualified for the next Asian Cup despite all the off-field challenges. Meanwhile, the men's team appears to be in free fall, compounded by uncertainty around the Indian Super League's future. With no clear path forward, the free fall looks set to continue.

Our Shooters and Archers continue their stellar run at World Cups, consistently bringing home medals and breaking records. Yet these performances need to translate into Olympic success. 

The inaugural Rugby Premier League marked an important milestone for a relatively nascent sport. While rugby's Olympic prospects remain distant, any step toward professionalization needs to be applauded.

Looking Ahead

Away from the cameras and commentary, Indian sports continues its relentless march forward. The LA 2028 event lineup is set, but qualification pathways are yet to announced. But the sporting journey continues.

Until next time.

Links:

• Episode 4 
• Rating India’s sporting Federations performance: ESPN

India @ 78

Image generated via AI

Happy Birthday India!

Continuing the personal tradition of a small blog post on the occasion of Independence Day, now in its 18th edition. (2024 edition Link)

What a crazy journey it has been since the last edition. The past year has seen India living through the very definition of a VUCA world.

We witnessed a major terror attack, were briefly at war, a deadly plane crash with a single miraculous survivor, are currently subject to Tariffs with ever-changing rates, are seeing renewed calls for Swadeshi, have been caught in a geopolitical cross-fire with friends/foes alike in a state of flux, have overtaken Japan to become the 4th largest economy (by GDP), while stock markets have soared despite overhanging clouds, watched internal political chaos with Vice-President resigning and Election commission being questioned, and organized the Mahakumbh featuring the largest gathering of humankind at a single place… Quite an action-packed journey around the Sun.

During Operation Sindoor, the TV news jingoism reached new depths. While it is understandable that media is used for controlling the global narrative and what is happening at the ground doesn’t come out in the open. But the TV news channels instead of providing an assuring note, were pulling out narratives out of their own fantasies! Only satisfactory note - the other side was no better. We discovered during the course of those 4 days that amongst other things, not only was there a port in Patna, but it had been destroyed by Pakistani drones!

Meanwhile life in India continues to be cheap – stampedes at cricket victory parade, railway stations & festivals, manmade & natural disasters, a messed up infrastructure– all reduced to a mere statistic.

Worst of all has been the rise of the Ugly Indian Image outside – Indian tourists & diaspora doing if not illegal, simply cringe-worthy activities across the world. Although, is this case also, the spin doctors are doing their best/worst to paint this outburst of such news items as is simply a coordinated attempt by jealous foreigners to malign India’s shining image globally.

And finally in the battle of species, the Hon. SC is hearing the matter of removing dogs from the national capital streets while the financial capital is becoming a battleground for feeding pigeons!

But amidst all the doom and gloom were a few rays of shining light

• Subhanshu Shukla became the second Indian to go to space.
• Chess is home – Team Olympiad Golds, Open World Champion, Women’s World Cup Winner, More Grandmasters than squares on the Chess board - we are witnessing the start of an era of sporting domination.
• Bids have been submitted for the 2036 Olympics and the 2030 Commonwealth Games. While a great initiative, whether this will result in grassroots initiatives as well remains to be seen.

In other news, the registered post will cease to exist as will the post boxes. A practical decision to move on with times. Which is what many folks need to do in various other matters as well!

So that was a little post featuring a tiny sliver of events from the perspective of the world's largest populace! Hoping for quieter times in the coming year!

Happy Independence Day!

Jai Hind!