NEW DELHI: Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Suresh Kalmadi painted a grim picture of the sports scene in the country with an appeal not to expect much from the sportsmen at the forthcoming Olympic Games in China.
He, however, struck a note of optimism on hockey. “Please don’t expect miracles in China. The senior hockey team was the runner-up in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and the juniors won the Asia Cup a few days ago. We need to now sit up and make the road map for hockey,” Mr. Kalmadi said. Incidentally, Indian hockey team failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
“Things are not that bad. We have a few plans in place and things are moving well in Indian sports but please don’t expect too many medals in China,” said Mr. Kalmadi at the book release function of ‘Olympics: The India Story’ by Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta.
The book, with some rare insights into India’s Olympic movement, has drawn on previously unused archival sources.
Mr. Kalmadi said the IOA was concentrating on the successful organisation of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010. “The Government has sanctioned Rs. 700 crore for the 2010 Commonwealth Games which will be used on 310 days of training of athletes. The 2010 event would be the platform for our performance in the London Olympics (in 2012).”
Request to corporates
Mr. Kalmadi also requested corporates to support the Olympic sports and not just spend their funds on cricket. “The industries should come forward. They don’t realise that even one gold medal in the Olympics will give them universal mileage.” The IOA General Secretary, Randhir Singh, noted, “We are far behind in the Olympic disciplines and the kind of money that’s needed is not there as cricket hogs all the limelight,” said Mr. Singh.