The Race of My Life (17 page)

Sadly, after I retired, most of my initiatives faded away—no camps have been held since 1991, students continue to bunk the games period, and the standards of the sports wings have deteriorated. The stark truth is that nobody cares or is interested, or has the vision to plan ahead or think of the future of sports in India. It is only by grooming children when they are young that we can create a strong group of sportspeople who will shine in international events. We are such a large and diverse nation, and yet after Milkha Singh and P.T. Usha, there has been no other athlete who has been able to compete successfully in either the Asian or Olympic games.

Just before I retired in 1991, I had sent a request for the Chandigarh government to give me ten acres of land to establish a national-level athletic academy to train and develop young sportspeople. My dream was to build hostels, stadiums and swimming pools, create spaces for athlete tracks, football and hockey fields, and every other facility that such an institution demands. But the idea was summarily dismissed even before it could be discussed or debated impartially. One of the objections put forth was the money required for such a project; the land itself would cost crores of rupees. I was very disillusioned that there was no one who was decisive enough to take a decision, and so a project that was dearest to my heart faded away into oblivion, just like all my other initiatives.

Almost six decades after my first race in 1953, I have come to the sad conclusion that the decline of sports is also because, somewhere over the years, Indian athletes have lost the killer instinct when it comes to winning events at the international level. When I was in China for the 2008 Olympics, I visited several of their sports academies and was impressed by how organized they were and the single-minded determination with which they went about achieving their targets. Their eventual ambition is to become the top sporting nation in the world.

In China, kids are selected at a very young age and they train year after year. Talented young athletes are required to undergo a strict training regime, so much so that a gymnast is made to repeat an exercise not once but a million times, until they perfect their technique. Their coaches are equally resolute because they know that they are entirely responsible for their trainees’ success or failure. And since failure is not an option, all their energies are concentrated towards ensuring that their students win.

How very different this systematic approach is from the lackadaisical manner in which we try to develop our sportspeople. Selections in India are ad hoc, often dictated by political diktats, or through personal contacts and connections. What India needs today is a firm goal to aspire towards, and what could be more prestigious than aiming for an Olympic gold? Success in the Olympics should be our ambition, but to achieve that end, we need international-level coaching, and for that, I would strongly recommend emulating the Chinese, right from creating a world-class sports infrastructure to spotting and grooming kids with talent. We need to overhaul our selection process and training methodology and choose only the most talented young boys and girls who show promise and have the potential to produce results. Give them professional guidance, use scientific training methods, discipline them if their standards fall, and above all, inspire and motivate them. What needs to be instilled in them right from the beginning is: toil hard to increase efficiency, stamina and strength, be resolute in thought, word and deed, and most important of all, take pride in your performance.

But no sportsperson can achieve results without an equally dedicated and committed coach. Thousands of coaches graduate from the National Institute of Sports (NIS) every year, but what has been their contribution to the development of our sportspeople? Unlike China, they are not held accountable if their trainees do not produce the expected results. The sad truth is that no one questions them, neither the government who employs them, nor the associations who sponsor them, not even their students whose careers depend upon them. As a result, they have grown complacent in their jobs.

A lethargic or apathetic coach can only impede the growth and progress of an athlete. If there were no Gurdev Singh, Ranbir Singh or Dr Howard when I first started running, would I have ever achieved the success I did? No. And I will reiterate what I have always said that it is only the coach who has the power and influence to build a sportsperson’s stamina, prowess and self-confidence.

To rid ourselves of this malaise, I would suggest that the government should not employ coaches on a permanent basis, simply because as government employees they have the security, if not job satisfaction, and when they retire they are assured of their pensions. India desperately needs more coaches like Pullela Gopichand, whose student, the world-class badminton champion Saina Nehwal, is a credit to his patience and meticulous grooming. And, if we are really serious about wanting to improve the situation, we need to be more careful about our selection of coaches: hire those who are capable and who share the same goals, give them four-year contracts on the assurance that their contracts will be renewed only after they have produced some tangible results. They must be made to understand that during this period their performance will be judged by how they and their students perform. The performers would then be rewarded, while the non-performers should be shown the door. Every country hires coaches on a contract basis, so why not India? But such a change will only be possible once the current group of coaches retires, and government and sports associations are ready to take on a new challenge.

t is common knowledge that the international sports calendar is fixed years in advance to give every participating nation the opportunity to prepare for them, whether it is to train athletes or for the host country to set up the required infrastructure. The New Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010 was not the best example of either.

India’s hosting of this sporting extravaganza led to an unfortunate chain of events, starting with charges of large-scale corruption in the organization of the Commonwealth Games against certain people, who were subsequently jailed because of these charges, and eventually ending in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspending the Indian Olympic Association in December 2012. What this means is that unless India is readmitted by the IOC, no Indian athlete can compete at future Olympic Games.

For sports to flourish in India, drastic measures need to be urgently taken. There has to be a unanimous agreement between the government, sports federations and associations, to discard personal agendas and gains and strive towards a common goal. The government has provided more than adequate funds and several state-of-the-art facilities, but what are they getting in return? Hard-hitting questions need to be asked: what are the plans for the future? What has been done to implement them? Have funds been honestly disbursed? It is only when these questions have been debated and answered should funds be allocated.

Many initiatives can be taken if we want standards to improve. But, first there must be a desire to change the system. Our one-point agenda should be to groom sportspeople to succeed in national and international events, to win medals and accolades. A strategic plan needs to be put in place and implemented decisively and purposefully. One way could be to identify areas where talent exists and tap it—for example, wrestling in Haryana, archery in the Northeast, hockey in Punjab. Planning must be focused and enforced honestly—it is only then that India can emerge as a front liner in the sports world. Each one of us must contribute if we want to change the system.

The all-pervading influence of politics on sports has to end. A while ago, the sports ministry had invited me to sit on the board of the Athletic Federation; I attended some meetings, but soon realized that I was in the minority, and that my frank views were not welcome. Several people with vested interests resented my presence on the board, only because they felt that a veteran athlete like myself would eclipse their prominence. Often I used to wonder how people who have never played a game could have been given such important positions. Why couldn’t sportspeople head sports organizations? But this can never happen, simply because vested interests will prevent such a move. More important is the fact that these are elected positions and no sportsman will be able to garner more votes than a wily and powerful politician.

When Margaret Alva was the sports minister, I often told her that all heads of influential sports bodies should have tenures of just five years, so that there will be a change in the style of functioning. I voiced the same opinion to the next minister, Ajay Maken, but only an act of Parliament can initiate such a policy.

What we can’t comprehend is that the world is changing rapidly and that we will be left far, far behind if we don’t move with the times. In all these decades, sports technology, too, has changed. When I was starting my career in the early 1950s, there were no running shoes, and it was only in 1956 after Roshan Sports in Patiala began to manufacture them, that they were accessible to the public. Another revolutionary change has been the introduction of synthetic tracks. This has meant that athletes have achieved feats that were considered near impossible during our times. With shoes, tracksuits and other sophisticated equipment and benefits so readily and openly available, why then is it so difficult for our sportspeople to reach international standards?

What saddens me most today is the universal use of drugs. When I used to run, the only drugs I knew of were those taken for medicinal purposes, yet today, drugs have spread like cancer, even at the school games’ competition levels. Visit any educational institution in the Punjab, and you will find needles and other substance abuse paraphernalia lying around openly. Drugs are easily available either in medical stores or through dealers, and each person, whether a child or adult, knows what drug to take, when and how much. Up-and-coming young athletes have no qualms about taking any type of illegal substances, whether it is heroin, cocaine, or banned supplement drugs to enhance their performances to achieve spectacular results without hard work. The authorities are aware of what is taking place, so are the coaches and doctors who pretend that they don’t. In the last few years, there has been a spate of scandals regarding the use of drugs among Indian sportspeople.

Two members of the Indian women’s 4x400-metre relay team who won gold medals at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010, later tested positive for the use of performance-enhancing steroids; more recently was the unexpected allegation that Olympic bronze-medallist, Vijender Singh, had taken heroin and other banned substances, though the tests turned out to be negative. Despite the personal humiliation and disgrace of medals being returned and dishonour to the country, no action has been taken to stop the spread of drugs. If the government and sports authorities are serious about the eradication of illegal drugs, they must act swiftly and enforce a strict clampdown on all the sources and suppliers; ban athletes who take drugs from participating in future events, and suspend or sack doctors and coaches who are responsible for importing drugs or introducing them to their students. Strong, almost authoritarian, measures are the only ways in which to deal with such serious and harmful practices.