As our wait for the first medal at the Rio Olympics extended by another day, fears started creeping in that this might be the first time in 24 years that our contingent will return without a medal. While traditional powerhouses like the USA, UK, and China continued picking up medals in bunches, smaller countries like Moldova and Tunisia have also won medals.
It’s not like athletes have not given their best, it’s just that their best is not good enough for a podium finish. So where exactly have we gone wrong? Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra thinks that India is not spending enough in training its athletes to compete at the top level. To put things in perspective, he tweeted how much the UK has invested in its sportspersons.
Each medal costs the UK £5.5 million. That’s the sort of investment needed. Let’s not expect much until we put systems in place at home.
— Abhinav Bindra (@Abhinav_Bindra) August 16, 2016
And it’s safe to say that their investments have paid off. The UK team has overtaken China and currently stands on the 2nd place in the medals tally.
So yeah, it’s time we understand where we need to spend our money. On athletes that can bring home medals or on our sports officials, who seem to be having a ball of a time in Rio with the taxpayers’ money?
