With the Commowealth Games starting this week, India is aiming high to create an air of positivity that can be taken forward over the next two years. Performance at the CWG and Asian Games will give us a sense of the talent pool at our disposal for the 2020 Olympics
New Delhi’s hosting of the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) was mired in controversy months before the event started. Several questions were raised in a country which was about to host an event consisting of multiple sports, not all of which were popular in India. With many corruption scandals surrounding the Games, it certainly brought a bad name to the country in front of not just its own people but a global audience.
While the Olympics remains the ultimate goal for any athlete; before that comes the CWG and the Asian Games. Number-wise, India’s performance in both have been vastly superior to what it does in Olympics. This because as the names would suggest, the CWG comprises of only those nations that once belonged to the British empire; while the Asian Games comprises of countries from that continent only.
With the 2010 CWG being in the news for all the wrong reasons even before it started, things improved for India once the event got underway. The country bagged a record tally of 101 overall medals, including 38 gold, 27 silver, and 36 bronze medals. Moreover, on the last day, India, as the host, stormed past England into the second position on the medal tally.
While there was an air of negativity due to corruption scandals that preceded the event, the sporting achievements certainly created a feel-good atmosphere, especially with India being the host. The 2010 medal tally was by a fair distance India’s best ever display at the CWG, both in terms of gold medal and total medals won. The 101 medals were 32 higher than their next best tally which was 69 attained at the 2002 games.
The feel-good sporting atmosphere created by winning so many medals at the CWG was carried forward to Guangzhou for the Asian Games, where India put up a very strong tally of 65 overall medals consisting of 14 golds. This was once again the country’s best-ever performance at the Asian Games, vis-à-vis total medals won, and only one short of their best gold medal tally which was attained in 1951.
The Olympics were always going to be a different ball game compared to the CWG and Asian Games, but for a country starved of success at the biggest stage, there was enough optimism created by their record-breaking efforts at Delhi and Guangzhou, that the london 2012 games would be a lot better than previous Olympics.
India entered the 2012 Olympics with its best contingent in a while, and the pessimism from past games had changed to optimism. It showed at the event as India recorded its best tally ever of six medals, at a level, it may have even been considered a disappointment with certain athletes who were medal hopefuls were unable to deliver, and this could have even taken our tally higher.
The CWG set to begin this Wednesday will not say anything drastically much about India’s chances going into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Yet, very much like the link drawn earlier between the 2010 CWG and the 2012 Olympics, it will definitely give a sense of the talent pool at our disposal. A heavy medal tally will help in creating a sense of optimism in Indian sport which all stakeholders can cash into over the next two years leading up to the 2020 Olympics.
One could argue that what India achieved at the 2010 CWG was an aberration, the best they had achieved prior to that was 69 and four years later at the 2014 games in Glasgow, came a reality check.
India won 64 medals, a big drop. Moreover, there was a pretty big drop in the gold medal tally as well, only 15 from the 38 won in 2010. The Asian Games too saw a dip in India’s fortunes, as they dropped from 65 medals in 2010 to 57 four years later. Even the Rio Olympics a couple of years later, India managed to win just two medals, a huge fall for them from london.
With the level of competition at the CWG lower compared to the Olympics and the Asian Games, it is pretty much assured that India will return with a bagful of medals. The question is how many, with a massive benchmark from 2010 already set, will look to come at least close to that figure if not breach it. From previous events, it is fair to say that 65-70 medals at the CWG are just about scratching the surface and India should definitely be aiming higher in order to create that air of positivity which can be taken forward over the next two years.
If the 2020 Tokyo Olympics remains the biggest goal for India in sports, then how they perform at the CWG and Asian Games will definitely be a stepping stone, and set a platform to get an understanding of who our best medal hopefuls are.
If India wants to exceed its medal tally from the 2012 Olympics and even consider entering double figures in Tokyo, then it is very important that it creates a pool of close to 20 athletes who can win a medal. As they say, if you aim for 20, then you can certainly win over 10. We will get to know more starting this Wednesday when the CWG commences.
(The writer is a sports management professional)