Olympics - closing thoughts

So anothers Olympics come to an end, and here are some final musings:

* Rights for telecast (at least in countries like India) should be given to as many television networks as possible. DD Sports did absolutely no justice to this spectacle of spectacles.

And neither did the few minutes spent by TV news channels, on the most saleable sportsperson of the day. We will remember nothing of this Olympics beyond Mark Phelps, Usain Bolt and Abhinav Bindra!

* It's really a chicken and egg syndrome. If you want Olympics to catch the imagination you need to give it that kind of importance. You need to put EVERYTHING else on the backburner for those 17 days.

That means giving prime time coverage even to 'obscure' sports. How else will they NOT be obscure?

* National pride and India winning medals cannot be the only peg for the media. And we need to see more of the PEOPLE behind the performances.

For example, the fact that Mark Phelps was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and told by his teachers that he would never be able to focus on anything.

I think that is as big or even bigger a story than his actual achievements. This is the behind-the-scenes which will inspire hundreds of parents to believe in their children - whether in the pool or outside of it.

* I would like to see more medal winners from India too. But let us not forget the very high price that has to be paid by these atheletes and their families. And I am not talking about money alone.

In the Communist bloc, superstars are created in state-sponsored sweatshops. In countries like America, champions are produced by parents who give it their ALL.

I'm not saying that means you don't invest your time, money and effort if you believe your child has potential (and there is an experienced coach or player who backs up that assessment).

But let's also recognise sport for the sake of sport alone. Yes, it does offer a higher purpose or career path for a few supremely talented and committed young people. But it can and must be seen as an important and productive pastime for ALL kids.

Even the ones aiming to 'do well in life' by scaling entrance exams.

* Lastly, the theme of the Beijing Olympics became more than a slogan for me on the very last day. In the women's gymnastics (all round competition), a team from Israel was performing its routine. And the music they has chosen to choregraph it on was the Bollywood number Dhoom tana from 'Om Shanti Om'.

One World, One Dream...

Abhinav Bindra: Hanging on to a dream

Every time I watch Abhinav Bindra on television I get goosebumps.

What an achievement!
And what a guy!!

First, the way he won the medal. Standing fourth when he qualified for the final round, Abhinav cracked a 10.7 out of 10.9 in the deciding shot, to win gold.

Second, the way he's handled the victory. No "Miss World' gasp. No whoop of joy. Just a contented half-smile.

What's more, he doesn't even look the role. With his quiet demeanour and spectacles and he could be the boy next door, preparing for an entrance exam.

You think of sportsmen as brawny heros. But Bindra's victory tells you, it's all in the mind.

Abhinav said he was not thinking about making history. Indeed, he said, he was "not thinking about anything". "I was just trying to concentrate on shooting."

That's what they call, being 'in the zone'. The Arjuna and the Eye of the Fish zone. Fark bas yeh hai idhar Draupadi ke bajay mila Olympic gold!

What a journey
Abhinav hopes his victory will change Indian sport. And the system, which atheletes struggle with in India, to reach heights in their chosen sport.

So how did Abhinav do it? I felt compelled to find out a bit more and some intensive google (re)search threw up this fascinating story...

First of all, how he got into the sport:

It was a slightly modified version of the William Tell Story. When barely seven Years of age, Abhinav Bindra asked one of his many domestic maids to place a bottle on her head. Then, from a distance of 10 meters, the lad too-young to know the portentous implication-took aim and fired his air gun. No harm was done to though. As in 14th century Swiss folklore, the shot found its target.

Father A S Bindra is the one who spotted this natural talent. Mr Bindra told ET: "His aim was so perfect that I couldn't think about anything else but make him a pro."

Luckily Mr Bindra not only had the belief in his son's talent but the resources to put into producing a champion. On NDTV tonight, we took a peep at the private shooting range in his home. Besides, the family invested in the best equipment, training, and international exposure.

And yet, it did not come easy. In 2001, in a poignant piece on rediff.com Rohit Brijnath noted:

If all goes well, and God lends a steadying hand, who knows, perhaps, maybe, one day down the line the kid could come home with an Olympic medal.

... It's not that the kid doesn't know his art. Ask him about shooting, and he'll give you a lecture about muscle tension, breathing control and trigger pressure...

It's not that the kid's a dreamer...

It's not that the kid's lazy...

It's just that the kid ( and his team, he emphasises) doesn't have a coach.

And needs to ask Dad to pay for most of his expenses. And has to travel everywhere alone, doing his own ticketing, and hotel bookings, and practise times, while remaining concentrated enough to shoot..

...The team's Hungarian coach Laszlo Szucsak, it is said, has gone to coach Japan because India couldn't afford to pay him US$500 or whatever more a month. But they can spend Rs 50 crore on hospitality for foreign athletes at the Afro-Asian Games!!!!

In response to this piece, an NRI actually put up an appeal to support Bindra. The total amount Bindra needed at the time to make it to the Athens Olympics was estimated to be Rs 1.2 crores. PER YEAR. (scroll down to see the break up).

Government support being a mere Rs 15 lakhs, the rest had to be raised by the athelete. At the time his father noted:

"Today, international sporting fraternity is pressing upon him, rather trying to take advantage of the fact that there is no full support to him from India and want him to shoot and represent countries like Germany, Holland or Denmark, but as a true nationalistic Indian, I have told Abhinav that behind every victory will be the Indian tricolour" and as such we have declined financial offer from these countries."

Abhinav did make it to Athens so I guess somehow that money was put together. After all, his father is the promoter of the Chandigarh-based Rs 300-crore Hitech Group which has interests in agro- and meat-processing, computer gaming, livestock genetics and pharmaceuticals. So maybe it wasn't whether he could cough up the money for his own training, but the principle of the thing.

Aside: Luckily, apart from the government (which has supported shooting far more than many other sports) we now have the LN Mittal Champions Trust and the Olympic Gold Quest.

Giving hope to those who don't have daddies with the crores.

Hanging on to the dream
But getting back to Abhinav, the chap was a child prodigy. At the Sydney Olympics, he was the youngest member of the Indian contingent and the youngest shooter to be ever present at the Games.

But again, despite so much potential, so many impressive victories at other forums, in Athens, which should have been his moment of glory, he crashed out.

BBC notes: He strolled into the final at Athens with a score of 597 out of 600 and was third. He was shooting like a dream and looked cool as a cucumber. But in the final, things didn't go his way. He shot his worst series of the day and crashed to seventh position. Questions arose about his ability to take the pressure of a final.

Then, he had a back injury. Despite that, and in pain, he went for the World Championships in Zagreb in 2006. And won gold. But the injury kept him out of the Asian Games.

A glimpse of his training schedule tells you it may look effortless. But it's backbreaking work...

Abhinav looks at the bull’s eye - a dark 5 millimeter spot on a brown piece of paper, at the other end of the hall, as predator looks on at it’s prey. As the finger softly presses the trigger, there is a crackle of sound. The sharpshooter tugs at the pulley and examines the target. Time for another spot.

This routine is followed with rigor seven hours a daily plus another few hours for physical training: jogging and stretching exercise. Thus there is complete dedication of body and soul ten hours a day, 365 days a year. "I may not like it but at the end of the day, I am pretty exhausted," says he.

Shooting requires a different kind of stamina. The stamina to concentrate hard and retain balance for couple hours while holding a rifle weighing over five kilograms. And a synchronicity of mind, eyes and finger, a slight variance in any of these and you risk losing all...

Keeping the Olympic dream alive, Bindra spent the last four months training in South Africa and Germany. Apparently, before heading towards Beijing, Abhinav had even taken a commando course to build up his physical endurance and a mental training session to calm the nerves.

And it certainly seems to have worked!

Sadly, it was not Gagan Narang's day. Gagan who? Well, we'll have to wait for another day for his nerves of steel to play out.

And I am sure they will. Olympics mein account khul gaya hai, ab isey band nahin hone denge. As Abhinav says, a billion people deserve not one but 40 gold medals...

Till yesterday, even a single one looked impossible, didn't it? It takes a single success story to inspire a hundred new hopes.

AB Trivia
Abhinav's grandfather Late Colonel Bir Singh was an excellent hockey player and had played alongside Dhyanchand in pre-Partition days.

As a 10 year old, when Abhinav first went to the shooting ranges the more experienced shooters pushed him back. He came back home without even getting to fire a single shot.

Abhinav is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics, which many have reported is the sole agent of German-made Walther weapons in India. The company actually seems to be more into gaming devices and peripherals.

He completed an undergraduate business management course from IILM, Delhi an affiliate of the prestigious Bradford University, UK.

E-mail: abhinav@acebindra.com
Blog: http://abhinavbindra.blogspot.com/
1126 comments there... as I post this :) But do go ahead and add yours!

photo: Jeff Gross/ Getty Images

Olympics: Dil maange more

I know there are a huge number of sports in the Olympics. But the one that I always watch out for is gymnastics.

To my mind, gymnastics is the ultimate 'sport for sport's sake'. You have to train really hard for it, from a very young age. There is no team to fall back on, you are all alone out there. You, your body, and more importantly, your mind.

Of course many other sports fall in this category - most athletics events, weight-lifting and archery to name just a few. But I feel these sports are grounded in something practical. Human beings have raised their bows, and lifted loads and run to catch prey since the beginning of time.

Gymnastics is not natural, it's man-made. It's pushing the human body to a level beyond.

And no matter how good you are, and how hard you train, there is no knowing how you will land after that triple cartwheel. Every move you make, I have my heart in my mouth.

Lastly it is such a good-looking sport. In the grace, the beauty and the strength with which it is performed. And the good looks of the performers themselves.

I will never forget the contest between Mary Lou Retton and Ecaterina Szabo ([pic alongside) in the 1984 LA Olympics. She was the first American to win the overall gold, although we must remember that was the year the Soviet bloc had boycotted the Games.

Back then the Americans were competent, yet the Russians and Romanians definitely had more style!

Of course now we also have the Chinese. Like the East Europeans, they put up Factories to Produce Champions. The formula being 'spot talent young', ragdo them, ferret out the one diamond for every 99 pieces of coal.

The Chinese are no doubt super-talented - rubber ki gudiya types - but it's difficult to cheer for them. They all look the same to me :)

Speaking of looks I was a bit surprised to see the amount of make up the females gymnasts are sporting these days. I mean eye shadow in the Olympics?? Takes some getting used to.

I guess today's gymnastics champs won't be satisfied with endorsing Wheaties ... In fact the US women's gymnastics team is actually sponsored by Cover Girl cosmetics.

Well, as long as it does not affect their performance, who am I to complain?

My bigger grouse is that you hardly get to watch much of any one sport. With only DD Sports covering the Games and so many events happening simultaneously.

And honestly it does not matter if India does not win any medals. Or just the odd bronze. Instead of the usual and endless debates on why we can't do better, let's just celebrate those who are.

Because some kid out there is going to see it and go 'Wow'! "That's what I want to be". Like Mary Lou Retton did, when she saw champion gymnasts on television.

Her first pining for Olympic Gold came at the age of four when watching Olga Korbut during the 1972 Olympics...When Retton was seven she watched Nadia Comaneci compete in the Olympics and enchant the world with her skill and force. Retton knew she wanted to one day stand on the podium and receive a gold medal.

Yes of course we need more facilities, funds and all that jazz. But every Long Journey begins at a signpost called Inspiration.

Amen.

Update: Abhinav Bindra has just won a gold medal in the men's 10 metre air rifle event :).