India’s Paltry Medals Tally at the Olympics: Lack of Killer Instinct or Something Else?

By The Messy Optimist

Updated: So, India came away with a final total of 7 medals – the best ever performance by our country (YEAH!) and the sublime Neeraj Chopra won India its first gold medal EVER in athletics. And kudos to everyone who won these medals.

But…we still need to pause and take stock of why a country with billion-plus people still only produced 7 medals at the Olympics. I think the rest of this story that I wrote below is still very valid. Please read.

Pre-updated from August 1, 2021

Two medals for India at the Tokyo Olympics, so far. One more assured in an upcoming boxing bout. Only five more days left and not a whole lot of medal prospects for India left. And all of the three medals that India has gotten so far have come from WOMEN.

Yes. Of the total 127 athletes who represent India at the Tokyo Olympic Games – 71 are men and 56 are women. And so far…all three medals have come from women.

It’s a paltry number for a country of India’s size. And it’s even sadder that, so far – no men have won any medals for our country in Tokyo.

That brings me to this interesting conversation I had yesterday with some of my non-Indian friends.

So… having lived abroad for many, many years now and having returned to India only very recently, my non-Indian friends far, far outnumber my Indian friends. Having friends from all over the world is a luxury. It allows you to understand different countries, enjoy different cultures, taste different cuisines, listen and appreciate different types of music, art, architecture and more.

The privilege works both ways. I’ve been lucky enough to live, travel and work in multiple countries abroad and that has meant that I’ve been able to educate outsiders about India. Also, circa 2021, perception about India is a lot different than how it was back in the late 90s and the early to mid- aughts. Back then, India still meant Discovery channel documentary footage (especially for many of my American friends) about it being a land of the exotic with frequent references to snake charmers and elephants on streets. At least, not many ask about those images any more. India is now more about our engineers, STEM and techie upstarts. But there are still lingering questions about India’s billion-plus population (Roopa, don’t you think your country should control its population?), India’s extreme poverty levels (still so many beggars and poor people in India) and, yes, questions about the average urban Indian’s ease with the English language (Your English is so good considering…).

And while it can be irritating at times to continuously ‘teach’ about our country to others – I still make sure they ‘get’ it. I explain about India’s steady decline in its population levels, why our poverty levels – while reducing – will still take time to completely eradicate given we are still a democracy and that as an urban Indian, English is as much my first language as it is for them. Yes. I also read, write and speak multiple other Indian languages fluently but English – for all practical purposes – is my first language.

And with time – at least with my non-Indian friends – they now get it. They get India.

Look…they still joke about our differences. But it’s all in fun and jest. Like, my American friends almost always make fun of cricket, especially five-day test cricket. They are incredulous that a sporting event can go on for five days and still not have a winner or a loser. Yes. They understand that pro golf is played over four days but there is a result at the end of it. What they do NOT understand is the concept of a draw in test cricket.

I, of course, bounce right back and show them pictures of their 300+ pounds heavy ‘football’ players who can barely walk, much less run, on the field and whose only job is to physically attack the offensive players with their girth. If you call these guys athletes, then we Indians are OK with cricket being played for five days. I’ve, of course, pulled my hair trying to explain the many newer rapid versions of cricket to them – one day internationals, Twenty20 Internationals, T10 cricket and so many more. But you know how it is? People cherry-pick what they want in order to make their point. I know that and I counter in kind. But all these arguments are done in jest.

Because my non-Indian friends know that as liberal as I am – I can also be a bit prickly about my country. They get that while I – an Indian – can say whatever I want about MY country – they better tread very, very carefully when it comes to even the most logical and sane comment they wish to make about India. It’s NOT patriotism run amuck – it’s that I understand we have issues but as a developing country – we have challenges that will take a long while to get past.

So…when I was on zoom with a group of friends from Europe and the US yesterday – I could tell that at least one of my very close friends was itching to ask me a question re the Olympics. I finally told Ashley (name changed for privacy reasons) and the others that it was OK. And that we were in a ‘safe space’ and they can ask me whatever they want.

Ashley burst out with. “How does a country with a billion-plus people have only two medals so far?”

Since Ashley set the ball rolling the others joined in as well. “Roop…don’t tell us it’s because India is poor. Parts of Indian society is insanely rich. Virat Kohli ranks in Forbes 100 richest athletes of the world. So, the money is there in India for sports.”

Another friend, a badminton player, asked, “PV Sandhu was thrilled at winning the bronze. The bronze? She won the silver medal in Rio in 2016. She was one of the favorites to win the gold this time. Shouldn’t she be devastated that she lost the chance to win gold? Winning bronze means you come third. She knows that. Right?”

“Both your field hockey teams looked so thrilled because they made it to the semi-finals. That doesn’t guarantee them a medal. And isn’t India one of the oldest nations to play field hockey?”

The questions came by furiously. And they weren’t taunting India a la Piers Morgan during the 2016 Olympics. These were genuine questions from genuine well-wishers.

Thing is – I don’t know the answers to any of these questions. I also know that many Indians ourselves, myself included, have asked ourselves these very questions. How is it that countries like Slovenia (4), Ecuador (3), Kosovo (2), Qatar (2), Venezuela (4), Romania (4), Indonesia (5), Ethiopia (3), Kenya (2), Nigeria (2), Uganda (2), Tunisia (2) – the list goes on – are able to win as many medals or more than us despite them being smaller and/or ravaged by poverty and/or politics?

Do we lack killer-instinct? Do we settle for very little? Do we still follow the mantra that the destination is not important, only the journey is? And, in sports, circa 2021, is that the right attitude to have?

I genuinely have no answers. Just questions and more questions.