Chandigarh: The euphoria over the unprecedented medal haul by the Indian contingent at Beijing Olympics is understandable given the medal hungry nation never had it so good at the biggest sporting carnival in the world. But it hides a bitter truth: all the three medals have been won by individual effort and are not products of a planned systematic approach by bodies that govern sports in India.

It was way back in 1952 we won more than one medal at the Olympics: a hockey gold and a wrestling bronze. Since then, in 14 editions of Olympics, we have won just 12 medals, including 6 in hockey alone, and never more than one in each edition.

Pargat Singh, three time Olympian and presently director (sports), Punjab, said it was a pleasant surprise and a good sign that the country has finally won more medals than ever before, but he said not much should be read into this achievement.

“As far as sports planning is concerned, we are still in dark ages. There is no long term vision, no broad base of athletes and no super specialists,” Pargat said.

“Lets take China as an example. They have a base of nine crore sportspersons and are expecting at least 90 medals in the Olympics. Coupled with 4.5 lakh qualified physical instructors and top-notch facilities, this target is within their reach and they have already won 83 medals, including 46 gold,” he said.

When asked whether India can do better in the 2012 London Games or beyond, he said it was very difficult to say but added that as things stand right now, it will be very difficult to replicate what China has done or better our three medal haul this time.

“Look it is like this. If we improve our sports infrastructure right now, the results will only come in 2020 Olympics or four years after that. A player needs at least 10 years to mature and become a medal contender and that too only if he is part of a system. One or two medals will come but as a nation of one billion, don’t we deserve more?” he asked.

Hockey legend and three-time Olympic gold medallist Balbir Singh Senior echoed what Pargat said.

“No doubt full credit should be given to the medal winners. But they won the medals because of their own efforts and they are not the product of a system,” Balbir said.

“Look at Cuba. They are a force in boxing. The boxing set up in that country is excellent that’s why they churn out champion boxers at such regularity. If we had a similar set up here, the medal haul would have been substantiality higher. The same applies to other sports too. The athletes are left to fend for themselves,” he said.

He also lamented the policy of showering the medal winners with money after they have won a medal. “If the same money is spent on them before they participate in international meets, they can achieve even more,” he said.

“Thanks to the sacrifice of their parents they have reached this far. Barring Abhinav, the other medal winners are from humble background. Their parents have an equal role in bringing glory to the country. There might be other talented athletes whose parents could not afford the cost of training and diet forcing them to leave sports. It is sad that for such athletes, we don’t have proper set-up in place,” Balbir said.

He said this insensitivity on the part of the government is continuing since the time he represented the country way back in the 40s and 50s.

“I was part of the hockey team which won gold at the Olympics in 1948, 1952 and 1956. Many members of my team had to leave the country, as they were not provided proper jobs and the respect they deserved in their own country. They lived abroad and did hard manual labour to survive. More than 50 years have passed and the conditions for the present lot has not improved and it shows in the results,” he said.

Another former Olympian Milkha Singh said the medal haul is a good start, as this will encourage kids to sidestep cricket and take up sports like shooting, wrestling and boxing.

“Now it is up to the parents to divert the interest of their children towards these sports. The same holds true for sports associations. We should carry forward the momentum,” the Flying Sikh said.

About the medal prospects in the next Olympics, he said first we should concentrate on the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.

“We should replicate what China has done in the present Olympics. They have won the maximum gold medals and India should also try to do the same in the Commonwealth Games. This will not only boost our morale but also give us confidence for the next Olympics,” he said.

He was all praise for the wrestling and boxing associations and hoped that other associations would also pull up their socks and aim for medals in their sports the next edition of the games.