For a nation of 1.2 billion people, the number of medals India has won in the Olympic Games (either in the Summer Games or the Winter Games) is pathetic. As a flag bearing participant, the country’s history in the Olympic Summer Games is rich. India was one of the few to participate in the 1900 Second Olympiad at Paris.
Though we skipped the 1904, 1908 & 1912 Summer Games, we participated in every Summer Games after that and in 8 of the 13 Winter Games till date. If you want a more complete history, please read the Wikipedia page India at the Olympics.
The statistics are enough to break every Indian’s heart. Overall we’ve won a total of only 26 medals (inclusive of London 2012) out of which 11 are for hockey. Of the remaining 15 medals won in individual sports, there has been only one Gold medal ever - in Beijing Olympics.
Apart from Norman Pritchard, an Englishman who represented India in the 1900 Summer Games (and won 2 Silver medals), no Indian has ever won 2 medals in the same Olympics. In fact, no Indian has ever won 2 (individual) medals in two meets - till Sushil Kumar made the mark in the London Games, following a Bronze in Beijing.
The most pathetic aspect of the Indian participants is their inability to perform even at their ‘personal best’ in the Olympics - which raises the suspicion that there is indeed something is funny in Indian sports. This is in marked contrast to the suspicion raised on the performance of Ye Shiwen, the Chinese swimmer.
The Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen surpassed her personal best by a large margin at the Olympics, which provoked the (false) accusation that Li Shiwen uses drugs to enhance her performance. With the Indian athletes, the suspicion is other way around. By consistently failing to reach their own best standards during the Olympics, the (unspoken) suspicion is about the lax drug testing and anti-doping standards in India.
To be fair, India is not the only country to be accused of lax drug testing standards. Whatever it is, the attitude itself (suspicion of doping by some athletes while not by others) is explained in a very simple and straight forward blog post at Psysociety [http://psysociety.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/olympics-7/]. Though it would have been more interesting if they’d explored the 3rd aspect too - not performing well at the Olympics.
>:->
BTP, London Olympics is the richest haul for India ever. We have won 6 medals - 2 Silvers and 4 Bronzes and would have done better if the Archers and Weightlifters - who were considered medal prospects - had done their part. Even without the media hype and public expectations fuelled by it, we are at least 3 to 5 medals short. OTOH, there were achievements which have been masked by the medal glory. The National Records in 20km and 50km walks were reset at the London Olympics.
The 6th and the last medal, a Silver at the London Games for India was won by Sushil Kumar in 66kg Free Style Wrestling. Though it was a disappointment that he could not mint Gold, this is one medal I am ashamed of. The reason was that Sushil Kumar has been accused (and convicted in the media) of biting the right ear of the opponent, Tantarov of Kazakhstan.
I didn’t watch the live telecast and when friends called up about it, I thought they were bluffing. When my cousins called up, I thought they were enquiring. When the college and school teens texted, I thought they were pulling my leg. But when my 11 year old nephew laughed sheepishly, slapped his forehead and said, ‘And I was watching it live, by God!’, I started believing. A case of a child and emperor’s new clothes, you see! OTOH, If you want to be ‘the child’ instead of my nephew, decide for yourself with this YouTube video.
So here we have it - the Silver and Bronze medals won by India in the London Olympics 2012
.
:-)
Though we skipped the 1904, 1908 & 1912 Summer Games, we participated in every Summer Games after that and in 8 of the 13 Winter Games till date. If you want a more complete history, please read the Wikipedia page India at the Olympics.
The statistics are enough to break every Indian’s heart. Overall we’ve won a total of only 26 medals (inclusive of London 2012) out of which 11 are for hockey. Of the remaining 15 medals won in individual sports, there has been only one Gold medal ever - in Beijing Olympics.
Apart from Norman Pritchard, an Englishman who represented India in the 1900 Summer Games (and won 2 Silver medals), no Indian has ever won 2 medals in the same Olympics. In fact, no Indian has ever won 2 (individual) medals in two meets - till Sushil Kumar made the mark in the London Games, following a Bronze in Beijing.
The most pathetic aspect of the Indian participants is their inability to perform even at their ‘personal best’ in the Olympics - which raises the suspicion that there is indeed something is funny in Indian sports. This is in marked contrast to the suspicion raised on the performance of Ye Shiwen, the Chinese swimmer.
The Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen surpassed her personal best by a large margin at the Olympics, which provoked the (false) accusation that Li Shiwen uses drugs to enhance her performance. With the Indian athletes, the suspicion is other way around. By consistently failing to reach their own best standards during the Olympics, the (unspoken) suspicion is about the lax drug testing and anti-doping standards in India.
To be fair, India is not the only country to be accused of lax drug testing standards. Whatever it is, the attitude itself (suspicion of doping by some athletes while not by others) is explained in a very simple and straight forward blog post at Psysociety [http://psysociety.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/olympics-7/]. Though it would have been more interesting if they’d explored the 3rd aspect too - not performing well at the Olympics.
>:->
BTP, London Olympics is the richest haul for India ever. We have won 6 medals - 2 Silvers and 4 Bronzes and would have done better if the Archers and Weightlifters - who were considered medal prospects - had done their part. Even without the media hype and public expectations fuelled by it, we are at least 3 to 5 medals short. OTOH, there were achievements which have been masked by the medal glory. The National Records in 20km and 50km walks were reset at the London Olympics.
The 6th and the last medal, a Silver at the London Games for India was won by Sushil Kumar in 66kg Free Style Wrestling. Though it was a disappointment that he could not mint Gold, this is one medal I am ashamed of. The reason was that Sushil Kumar has been accused (and convicted in the media) of biting the right ear of the opponent, Tantarov of Kazakhstan.
I didn’t watch the live telecast and when friends called up about it, I thought they were bluffing. When my cousins called up, I thought they were enquiring. When the college and school teens texted, I thought they were pulling my leg. But when my 11 year old nephew laughed sheepishly, slapped his forehead and said, ‘And I was watching it live, by God!’, I started believing. A case of a child and emperor’s new clothes, you see! OTOH, If you want to be ‘the child’ instead of my nephew, decide for yourself with this YouTube video.
So here we have it - the Silver and Bronze medals won by India in the London Olympics 2012
.
:-)
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