The not-so-exciting display by Indian sportspersons at the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, has been made worse with news that athlete Sunita Rani has been stripped of her gold and bronze medals for taking banned substances. So, over and above the tragedy that India, an Asian giant in terms of size and population, wins gold medals in single digits comes the humiliation that someone has been caught taking performance-enhancing dope!
Games after games, year after year, it is the same story. India sends one of the largest contingents, but comes back with wins that are truly embarrassing. Why do we send such large contingents? Do the bureaucrats and officials who rule over Indian games accompany the sportspersons simply to do their shopping and sightseeing and earn daily allowances in dollars? What has been their contribution to Indian sports?
Should India just stop participating, save in a few games where we actually win? Should sports officials be only former sportspersons, and all government officials and politicians be banned from poking their finger in Indian sports? Does it make sense that the president of the IOA is a politician, Suresh Kalmadi?
Incidentally, Randhir Singh is a former sportsman, who won a gold medal in shooting at the Asian Games. In 1979, Singh was awarded the Arjuna Award for having represented the country for 31 years in shooting, a record. Singh has been advocating a strong line against Sunita Rani for imbibing performance-enhancing drugs.
You may put these, and other, questions to Randhir Singh, secretary general of the Indian Olympic Association, when he appears on The Rediff Chat on Monday, 28 October, 2002, at 1530 IST [0500 EST].
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Also see:
Sunita Rani stripped of medals
The Asian Games
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