China sent a single person for the 1932 Olympics. At the same Los Angeles city India won its second Olympic gold.
This in a nutshell proves better Olympic tradition of India.
Better let us not rejoice on this. Because, today China emerged so big on the global sports scene its athletes are almost certain to top the medals tally, breaking the monopoly of the United States.
In the last Olympics, China almost closed in on. The States had 36 gold against China’s 32.
If we restrict to hockey sport, here also China’s rise is wonderful.
The same China which sent a single athlete 76 years ago while India was defending its hockey gold, is today in the Olympic hockey’s medal hunt. India on the other hand is still looking upto hockey for a solace medal at the Olympics – in order not to be shamed in the world’s biggest sporting stage. But the sport even fails to qualify for the event.
As irony would have it, it is China who stopped India on its track at the last Asian Games which led to Indian hockey’s present plight.
China got just four chances to score out of which it managed to scored thrice while India could score only twice. This was how India was out of the Asian Games. First time in the history, India was out of medals in the Asiad.
China also defeated Pakistan in the semis of the same Asiad and are in their first Olympics at home not only as the hosts but also as the second best Asian hockey team.
How could the Chinese do all these in a short span of 3 years despite not having many hockey players to choose from?
Hiring a foreign coach
Giving him full freedom to select team, plan tours and get his support staff.
Total government funding without any form of interference.
“I have more freedom in China than in Korea”, said Kim Sam Rhyul, the former Korean coach, now in charge of Chinese resurrection when this writer met him at Ipoh last year.
The same comparision is applicable to our women hockey also.
South Korean coach Kim Changback has been training the women team for almost a decade.
Indian women won the first Asiad in 1982, but are nowhere now. Under a foreign coach the Chinese girls have won a Champions Trophy, Asian Games and Asia Cup titles and are now strong contenders for the Gold.
The success of the Chinese experiment must act as an eye-opener for any country that wants to develop its sports. India, which competes China almost on equal footing on all other fronts, pretend not to look at them on the questin of sporting development.
Pic: Chinese men’s team Asia Cup 2007