Reimagining India: How can India match China’s medal

count by the 2024 Olympics?

By Jyotirmoy Mukherjee

Abstract
The 21st-century India is neck and neck with its largest neighbor, China, in many arenas, but a massive gap remains
in a few areas, such as sports. To bridge this gap, the Indian government needs to increase participation in newer
sports through investments in sports infrastructure and by encouraging sports entrepreneurs. The government should
promote sports at which the country already excels. To get more wins for our teams, focused funding schemes should
be introduced to ensure proper nutrition for athletes. In addition, sports schools and all-purpose sports complexes
need to be set up, and those who are eligible should be reassured that if they choose to pursue an athletic career, they
will have some financial security, even after they retire.

Understanding the objectives

It’s tempting to weigh India and China—its largest neighbor—on a scale at every opportunity. Case in point: the massive
difference in the countries’ respective Olympic medal tallies. But are we really comparing apples with oranges?

It’s true that both have comparable economic and population growth. But the governmental mechanisms that drive
these economies are completely different. Moreover, we should appreciate the fact that China kick-started its economy
in 1978, while India began its economic liberation in 1991. The two countries are in different stages of economic growth.
Therefore, instead of following China’s footsteps, the 21st-century India needs its own path, tailored for its economy and
its social culture, with the goal of making a mark at the Olympics.

Essentially, the proposition has three key areas:

• Winning more of the games that we already participate in
• Participating in new sports, and winning those games
• Promoting the national sports in which we excel to the rest of the world

Win more
It’s all about winning games, standing at the podium, and receiving medals. When only 6 out of 83 Indian athletes
participating in the London Olympics win, it’s apparent that things are not going in the right direction.

Financial support
The careers of professional athletes have a limited shelf life, which often gets shortened further due to injuries. Hence, the
government should financially secure their future. My candid conversation with a former Indian badminton champion
revealed that even the national winner of the tournament used to get a meager 20,000 rupees ($325). That’s a ridiculously
low figure. This applies to all other Olympic sports in the country.

Building infrastructure from the ground up

To build world-class athletes, we need world-class infrastructure for stadiums, practice turfs, sports equipment,
gymnasiums and sports facilities, and sports medicine. The Chinese government has opened more than 850,000 gyms
and more than 3,000 specialized sports facilities. This same kind of commitment is essential for India to get serious
about the Olympics.
Health and nutrition
In India, 20 percent of children below five years of age suffer from complications due to acute malnutrition;
43 percent are underweight. In other words, it’s not “genetic”; we are losing human potential due to malnutrition.
The government must ensure food security and a proper diet for all children. Focused funding is the key.

The global exposure

To attain world-class competence, our athletes must have world-class exposure through joint training camps with athletes
from all over the world. This sets the standard for budding athletes competing under strict international guidelines.

The sports school

Athletes in China go through a grueling 7- to 8-hours-per-day training regime from the age of 4, and they do this away
from home. It might seem impossible to implement this kind of rigorous training in India, but there is no alternative;
Olympic hopefuls must be spotted early and trained appropriately. To facilitate this, India should develop special sports
schools that strike a balance between sports and academics, with customized curricula for athletes.

Participate more
It’s a fact that Indian athletes are not prepared for participation in many games due to our country’s lack of world-class
sports infrastructure and training facilities. Cycling, diving, fencing, rugby, triathlon, and volleyball are all missing from
the Indian athlete’s portfolio. To increase the medal tally, we must increase participation in these games.

Direct investments
One-third of the country’s total sports budget should be directed toward building capabilities in new sports. Athletes
participating in other games should be encouraged, via financial incentives, to explore newer Olympic sports such as
kitesurfing, bowling, and Wushu (a martial art).

The ‘all purpose’ sports facility

India cannot afford large sports facilities and open fields for individual games. The solution is to build all-purpose
stadiums and facilities where different sports can be played at the same time. The multilevel sports complex would solve
the space issue effectively without having to compromise on open space.

Foreign coaches
It’s wise to appoint foreign coaches to train Indian athletes in games such as baseball, soccer, swimming, and so on, where
we lack world-class expertise. China has successfully adopted this model in swimming (Denis Cotterell), baseball ( Jim
Lefebvre), and fencing (Christian Bauer), and is reaping great benefits as a result.

Promote more
While there are many games where we have yet to reach world-class levels, there are a few, such as cricket, chess, and
Kabaddi, where India has a world-renowned reputation. Heavily promoting these games to Olympics officials and fans
would go a long way toward adding these sports to the Olympics—and help India earn some medals.

Building ties
To promote sports on India’s behalf, we need to have international camps and cross-training programs for Indian games
across continents. International trade partners could be approached. This would help build consensus to include Indian
games at the Olympics.

Promotion
The India Olympic Association (IOA) should promote Indian games by circulating online petitions and
driving engagement through social media. The benefit of this strategy is twofold. First, it will help India to
compete in the games at which it excels—and thus win more. Second, it will get more Indians interested
in the Olympics.
A 10-year action plan
India’s Olympics aspirations should not only be about talking the talk but also walking the walk. Careful
implementation is essential. In the 10-year action plan leading up to the 2024 Olympics, we are looking for athletes
who are around 10 to 15 years old. At the same time, we must consider the effects of two general elections: in 2014
and hopefully in 2019.

Year 1 to 2, ensuring participation:

Promotion:
• Create international awareness and, through coaching, help ten other countries learn and become proficient
at Indian sports.
• Use social media and television to create enthusiasm.
Nutrition:
• Step up agricultural R&D budget to increase stem-cell research and add fortified food grains for better nutrition.
• Make fortified food grains available through ration scheme. Create awareness through doctors.

Year 2 to 5, strengthening the backbone:

Infrastructure development:
• Create five sports schools per state; identify and enroll budding athletes.
• Create ten all-purpose sports complexes with world-class facilities.

Year 5 to 7, training for excellence:

Now that athletes have developed a basic competence in sports through rigorous training for 5 years, they should be
pitched against their international counterparts:
• Conduct boot camp for athletes following the model of joint exercises by defense forces.
• Hire foreign coaches to build new capabilities.

Year 7 to 10, drive to completion:

• Review all pending sports-infrastructure projects and drive them to closure.
• Develop world-class facilities in sports medicine to treat athletes.
• Sponsor domestic games so players and their teams can compete against each other, gaining experience and fans.

This is a continuous development plan that would start reaping benefits from year 10. At that point, it should be the duty
of the government to sustain and bring innovations to the plan.

Moving forward
India has moved ahead in the global economic arena, but the country’s sports have suffered for a long time due to
misplaced priorities. To become the nation to beat at the Olympics, we first need to beat a few barriers of our own.

Corruption
Corruption remains the Achilles’ heel for India. India is currently listed as 96th out of 176 nations on a transparency-
and corruption-perception index. The ban from the Olympic games that was issued by the International Olympic
Committee, which the IOA continues to try to have lifted, came about because of this issue. For India to be eligible
to compete (let alone to win), nepotism and corruption in sports should be declared a punishable offense.
Standards
The Sports Authority of India should take a no-nonsense approach to the exact specifications of sports equipment, to
following the rules of the games, as well as to enforcing guidelines for the use of performance-enhancing drugs. This
would help to bridge the gap between the nation’s domestic and international performance.

Funding
The sports budget should be increased from $180 million per year to $500 million, which is closer to the estimated
Chinese figure of $700 million. This is a prerequisite to excel at the 2024 games. The money can come from an additional
youth-development cess on income tax.

Encouraging sports entrepreneurs

The Usha School of Athletics, the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy, the Bhiwani Boxing Club—these are all
excellent examples of budding Indian sports entrepreneurship. Instead of taking control of sports development, as China’s
government has done, the Indian government should encourage private participation.

Building the culture

It’s time to move ahead, to stop focusing on just cricket. India lacks a proper sporting culture; households still prioritize
academics. The hardships that a professional athlete must endure should not be underestimated. The government must
provide some form of financial security to all athletes by giving them housing and then, when their athletic career is over,
putting them on the government payroll in a meaningful job.

India enjoys great human capital—a vibrant, young population with a rich cultural diversity. Reimagining Indian sports
in the 21st century starts with the engagement of the Indian populace. Securing the future of our athletes and providing
them support and respect would drive more participation. At the same time, we should take a strong position toward
adopting international standards of sportsmanship. If the country does this, it’s only a matter of time before Indian sports
transforms into a formidable force: faster, higher, and stronger.