Why some sports attract champions from the poor, while others largely remain with the rich
About 22 years ago, the sports ministry had organised a big do at Vigyan bhavan in New Delhi to present cash awards to those who had won medals in international competitions in 1993. A booklet published by the ministry for the occasion, with the names and photos of the awardees, was a classic memento from the shambolic world of Indian sports officialdom. It spelt ‘sports’, in a cute lapse into Punjabi English, as ‘supports’. And long-distance runner bahadur Prasad’s certificate said the Asian track and Field Meet was held in ‘Man ali’, the hill resort in Himachal Pradesh, instead of Manila!
Not much has changed in the world of Indian sport and the meagre haul at the Rio Olympics reflects it. Despite the government’s casual attitude towards sports—look only at the three paise per capita allocation in our Union budgets—winners like Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar continue to emerge from farflung places where facilities are almost nonexistent. (P.V. Sindhu is not exactly from a poor village, but badminton is perhaps the most widely played sport in the country.) And yet, there is no dearth of people who think only ‘losers’ take up sports, as they are good for nothing else.
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