Aish's Blog Spot

At the end of each Olympics, theres always a big media circus about how poor the Indian performance was, why a subcontinent with over 1bn people cant produce more than one medeal the olympic games etc etc. This, in my opinion, is as bad as the trumpet blowing that happens before each Olympics. The media circus would make you think every singly member of the Indian contingent is definite to win a gold in the event they are to participate in.

How many people actually believe the tall claims these guys make each year, prior to the olympics? Its a joke, really. I, for one, did not expect more than 2 medals. I thought Paes/Bhupathi might pull one off. Plus, probably some one else- may be Rathore because he had been winning quite a few international competitions.

Thats it! I had absolutely no hopes that Anju would win- puhleese! or Shikha Tandon. Their personal bests were way below those of the other contenders. Which makes it funny to hear Bobby George telling the media Anju will definitely win the gold.

To me, a single silver goes no where near giving an overview of the Indian Campaign at Athens. Indian women qualified for the finals of the 4x400 mts relay for the first or the second time in olympic history. We had decent performances in Shooting, Archery. A really good performance in the Long Jump. A good fight in Tennis.

Considering the support given to Sports in India (Cricket is not a sport here, its a religion, so doesnt qualify), this performance is nothing short of brilliant.