Desi athletes take the gold

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Desi athletes have picked up a series of gold medals in the 2006 Commonwealth games in Melbourne. I know it’s not the Olympics, but the sight of a gold medal hanging around any brown neck is rare enough that it is worth remarking on. India is ranked third of all countries (after Australia and the UK England), with 12 gold medals, while Pakistan and Sri Lanka each have one. [By comparison, Australia, the host, has 42 gold medals and the UK England has 18]

Invoking every Goddess before serving sure slowed things down

These recent victories wont give brown people a reputation for being jocks though. At least five of India’s gold medals are from air rifle events. While I’m sure this requires skill, I can’t imagine that it takes either stamina or strength. The Indian women’s table tennis team also won a gold, but only with divine intervention:

In table-tennis, India’s women’s team won a closely fought match against Canada, winning 3-2. “I prayed to the Goddesses to please give me strength to perform well for myself and India,” India’s Mouma Das is quoted as saying by AFP news agency. “I felt in my heart they heard” [Link]

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p>This isn’t even badminton fer cryin’ out loud, let alone “real” tennis. How much pride am I supposed to take in the fact that it took all the Goddesses in the Hindu pantheon to win a table tennis competition without any Chinese athletes! And air rifle and table tennis account for at least half of the Indian gold medals.

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p>The most macho gold medal was won by the Pakistanis who set a new Commonwealth record in weightlifting:

Pakistan picked up its first gold medal of the Games with a win for Shuja-ud-din Malik in the men’s 85kg weightlifting event. Malik’s combined 343kg in the clean-and-jerk, including a new Commonwealth record of 193kg, placed him ahead of Cameroon’s Brice Batchaya. [Link]

I’ve got my fingers crossed, hoping that desi athletes can redeem themselves by doing well in some more strenuous sport, like Netball or Lawn Bowling. During the last Commonwealth Games, the Indians won 30 gold medals. Would it be too much to ask if half of India’s gold medals this time were in sports that desi mothers would disapprove of?

UPDATE: Wgiia, ms and Soooraj remind me that India’s first gold medal was earned by female weight lifter Kunjarani Devi and that two of India’s 12 medals are in women’s weightlifting.

43 thoughts on “Desi athletes take the gold”

  1. Netball is a tough game, you dont get to bounce or run with the ball, and the Aussie’s can really kick a**. I know when I represented my province against some of the Aussie teams, we got wiped out in the first round!

  2. wuz up with brown ppl at sport? like, is their attitude positive culturally? i know that the chinese culture traditionally lionizes scholarly pursuits, but their gov. just made the commie-on-hight-drug-induced push to be succcesses so they are. could browns do the same?

  3. indian women have won two golds so far in weightlifting. but given the sport’s constant dubious links to drugs, i’ll take the air rifle and table tennis. at least they are more objective sports than some that qualify for the winter and summer olympics.

  4. Hehe. Still, credit where credit is due I guess. I remember going over some resumes for Indian friends, and they would have some sort of tabletennis (“tt”)achievement listed under Achievements/Sports. Initially I sniggered and informed them that there were better not including that information and they were very offended – or atleast putting it under “Hobbies”. I slowly eventually that tt is onsidered sports/athelitics in, at least parts of, India.

  7. I’m sure the Commonwealth Games are even less of an event than they are here. But being a sportsnut I always follow.

    Ennis it’s a bit cheeky to say air rifle-shooting doesn’t require stamina. All shooting events do. The difference between a good shooter and the best is the ability to hit the target consistently – they do that by minimising all extraneous movement. They often train to get their heartrates very low and to ensure their aerobic capacity allows them to extend their natural respiratory pause.

    And. Never, ever cuss tabletennis young man! I may be a former part-time-not-that-often shooter, but I’m a full time ping ponger and if you suggest it’s inferior to hitting a floating bunch of feathers in the air you’ll feel the wrath of my Indian-manufactured illegal pimpled paddle!

    Canada usually do better than this. In fact we (the UK) normally do better than this. Home advantage always helps – so bear in mind the next games are in New Delhi in 2010.

  8. Unfortunately, the countries in South Asia have not invested in sport and physical education and that is the main reason we don’t see many athletes from the region. So for the very few that make it with the limited resources they have, we should be very proud and support them!! And btw, table tennis and net ball are real sports – please try to play it yourself at the interanational level before you criticize.

  9. The physical education infrastucture that even a mediocre US public school (primary school on up to high school) provides, is unmatched by all but the best Indian private schools. And that’s whether you’re talking about equipment, coaches, gyms and gym classes, or amount of land dedicated to sports fields, track, etc. Athletics are a much bigger part of the culture here. It’s not uncommon for US high schools to have tennis courts and swimming pools. Varsity athletic offerings are diverse and widespread. In fact I think in the US there’s almost too much emphasis on sports (more for the non-desis than the desis), because after sports practice everyday from 3pm until 6 or 7 pm, most kids are too tired to go home and do more than a half-assed job on their homework. But India could definitely use some more of that.

  10. hey, chess is in many ways an ultimate sport. you have to keep physically and mentally fit to excel at the highest level.

  11. dude

    come on !! TT and air rifle are relatively “propah” sports. For crying out loud, if curling can be an Olympic sport, then why not these two given due importance.

    And yes u r right about the chinese not being around especially in TT.

    Even the Chinese themselves are feeling bad. They wouldve been here if the british hadnt stopped in India and continued northwards. But then if that had happened we would have had a billion more IT techies…………which would have made it so much easier for Asia to take over the world.

    Kinda Sepia-Ochre Mutiny !!! what say

  12. As I like to tell my kids – get straight A’s, or else you will someday be working for those who did. I am a typical Indian, you see.

  13. Firstly, it is under humor. I’m sure that I couldn’t do any of these events well. But I will stand by my point – Table Tennis, Air Rifle Shooting, Chess, all of these require much less exertion and conditioning and strength than most of the other events at the Commonwealth Games. The defense of chess in this comment thread makes my point. At least in table tennis you break a sweat, but chess?

    These are all “nice” events, the sort of thing where you can’t get hurt, the sort of thing that your mom would approve of. Hardly jockish, as I’m attempting to jocularly observe.

  15. I only speak for myself here, but my comment was surely clearly under humour too..? I’m sure would argue that you break a sweat in chess too though!

    However, I’m not claiming chess is a sport. But what’s your point though Ennis? These sports require less ‘exertion’ and are therefore less impressive? Again, I know you’re tongue-in-cheek, but you don’t exert yourself all that much in golf, is anyone Fijian saying “Oh I wish we had a REAL sportstar, not a golfer”?

    Watch some pro tabletennis and tell me it isn’t as physically demanding as other sports.

    Lastly, the ‘macho’ weightlifting could be argued to have far less skill than pursuits like chess or tabletennis.

    Actually, you’re entirely right. You’re talking about jocks – thick brawny types. Weightlifting fits the bill. But I’d rather have a nation of nerds than jocks. Perhaps it’s the Bengali-Punjabi difference in our opinions, eh Ennis? 😉

    REVENGE OF THE NERDS!

  16. You’re British – where do you sit on the controversial issue of darts? Should they be added to the Olympic roster next? 😛

  17. And would anybody take golf half as seriously if there weren’t large sums of money attached? What if being a pro-golfer paid on the same scale as a pro-netballer, would it be as respected?

  18. open thoughts- but even shooting requires the sportsman to train his/her body – not in the obvious sense – but in breathing and i have heard of shooters who reduce their heart rate seemingly at will. that i think is remarkable – there are of course less than glamorous aspects of every sport – i never took to ‘transition time’ in triathlons as something to train for – heck how stupid is that, how fast can you put on a shirt and pull on shoes… – but then margins of error are so thin at the elite level – it’s all worth it… – in fact one reason i feel indians can never really do very well in sports that require equipment is because first the equipment is expensive and second because even if the equipment becomes available to an athlete, the equipment maintenance will be outsourced to some flunky… and freak, nobody can tune it like you can –
    that being said, this showing is not bad, although the competition is pretty weak. heck the representation at the marathons has times that would be embarassing to a good age-grouper. but all these are moo points.
    if you feel bad about this – get your lazy asses off the chair and do like 40 sit ups and 40 tricep dips – now – your community needs you NOW – let’s go now – chop chop!!! yes YOU – get crack’n ..

  19. Darts isn’t a sport, it’s something you do when you’re pished. No to Olympic inclusion. It’s a moot point though now, there is so much I would axe from the Olympics. Starting with tennis and football.

    Thank you ms – I was going to look up India’s other medals. Indian women weightlifters out perform the men again. Let’s hope none are on drugs this time…!

  20. I have to admit I might hesitate to let my hypothetical future sons play high school varsity football…there is a significant risk of serious injury, it just might not be worth that risk. If they were really good at it I’d let them play. Other sports (basketball, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, tennis etc) are fine. Wrestling is not cool because in order to make their weight-class, these kids starve and dehydrate themselves…not good, especially when you’re still growing. And chess? NO WAY (just kidding).

  21. Man, if I ever got into a “macho” altercation, I’d rather be a kickass shot with a gun than have all the athletic ability and strength in the world.

  24. Oh I just noticed a wee error. The UK doesn’t compete in the Commonwealth Games Ennis. England is second, India is third and Scotland is fourth.

    Dhavaak you probably know more about marathon than me, but isn’t 2h04 a fairly respectable time? Remember a bunch of African nations compete, including Kenya.

    in fact one reason i feel indians can never really do very well in sports that require equipment

    Never? Have faith.

  25. check out some of the female chess grandmasters and at other levels. nerdy looking they’re not 🙂 far more appealing than weightlifters 🙂

  27. Dhavaak you probably know more about marathon than me, but isn’t 2h04 a fairly respectable time? Remember a bunch of African nations compete, including Kenya.

    yes… i was just surprised to see the 2 hr 30 min representations at an international marathon … !!

    in fact one reason i feel indians can never really do very well in sports that require equipment
    Never? Have faith.

    Pardon the hyperbole. It was more a dig at social mores than athletic ability. A decent road bike comes at around $2K+ or so. If a richie rich kid takes up such a sport what are the odds he/she would actually get familiar with the bike, take it apart, get grease under the nails etc. but i apologise to anyone who might have been offended. just turn the clock back 40 years. luging used to be a patrician sport then. the economical barriers have come down since.

  30. You could always run – you don’t even need shoes …

    Indeed. The barefoot Rift Valley runners of Kenya even inspired Nike to make the Nike Air Rift.

    Successful steeplechaser Christopher Kosgei runs barefoot and the legendary double Olympic marathon gold medallist Abebe Bikila ran with no shoes. He was the first African distance runner to make his mark on the Olympics. The rest is history.

  31. You could always run – you don’t even need shoes …
    Indeed. The barefoot Rift Valley runners of Kenya even inspired Nike to make the Nike Air Rift.

    long ago there was this thread on rec.running on forefoot running. the idea was that the whole shoe industry caters to people who dont know how to run. their mechanics is all wrong if they need cushions for their heels. they run like cows when they should run on the balls of their foot like ahorse. the examples that BB cites were used to demonstrate that you do NOT need the $170 shoes to run fast. i am not that extreme as to run bare foot but i do practice forefoot running. i do did grind my shoes for a couple of years till the toe popped out the front – and my spine and my heel are all fine. well it’s that and i am cheap. fuck i feel so fat and old.. a couple more years and my ass will start oozing over thes sides… plop plop. i will change my nom de plume to modak (मोदक as in laddoo)then.

  32. : The most macho gold medal was won by the Pakistanis who set a new Commonwealth record in weightlifting:
    IÂ’ve got my fingers crossed, hoping that desi athletes can redeem themselves by doing well in some more strenuous sport,: May be you missed this? Or is Macho only a manly thing? http://in.rediff.com/sports/2006/mar/16cwg.htm

  33. Garry Kasparov could run 100 meters below 12 seconds in his haydays. One of the reasons cited for Karpov’s and Vishwanathan Anand’s inability to defeat Kasparov is their lack of physical fitness and strength.

  35. A lot of people here are making a big fuss about the weightlifting drug scandal at the Olympics. What people need to realize is that almost all international weightlifters DO in fact take anabolic steroids, and that does not mean that they can sit on their asses at home and suddenly acquire the ability to lift weights. They still have to bust their asses in the gym, they still have to lead a lifestyle that requires an extreme amount of discipline, and all for not too much pay. The least we can do is provide support and not judge them on whether or not they are on the juice.

    Look at all the recent steroid scandals in US baseball of late – almost all the biggest hitters of late have been taking steroids – Barry Bonds, McGwire, etc. Most people in the know understand that steroids are simply a given for all-out performance sports, and the richer countries simply have better techniques to mask their use.

    The question is not whether or not Olympic weightlifters are on drugs, the question is simply will they get caught. And for me, the fact that they are doping does not take anything away from them – they are simply making an informed decision to put their bodies on the line for glory.

  36. And for me, the fact that they are doping does not take anything away from them…

    Sure it does– it turns it into a competition of chemists rather than a competition of athletes. There’s no baseline and so there’s no level playing field.

    If you want a chemist competition, change the rules and make it explicit.

  38. @Manish — What you don’t realize is that chemists do play a part, and it has been that way for several years. You can’t blame an athlete for being on roids if you’re also going to blame them for losing if they choose to stay clean (while others are doping). If the playing fields were truly level – and there was a testing protocol that guaranteed that athletes were clean, that would be terrific. But as it stands right now, there is no choice, if you want to stay competitive, you’ve got to dope.

  39. Fine Prasan, if you want to compete on a level playing field, you have to dope. I can understand this, I’m sure weightlifting, strongman stuff and the Tour de France are riddled with drugs. But what Manish is objecting to and what I’m also saying is that you stated:

    And for me, the fact that they are doping does not take anything away from them

    And we disagree. Understanding that people are pressurised into taking drugs to keep up does not mean their achievement is as laudable. Otherwise we’d all say Ben Johnson was the second fastest man of all time – and the fastest for about 15 years.

  40. @BongBreaker — The system is riddled with hypocrisy – it is based on the premise of fairness when clearly nothing is fair. Some athletes have access to better facilities, better trainers and undetectable drugs. Some get away, others get caught – and thats why I feel an athlete cannot be blamed for juicing. Let’s not forget Carl Lewis, Ben’s rival, had been accused of steroid usage since 1981, and has tested positive at least once in his career – and he wasn’t stripped of his medals since they couldn’t prove that it was during a performance. Linford Christie also was suspended for steroid use.

    People claim that athletes have a choice, bullshit. This is their choice: a) Dont dope, remain unknown, retire poor b) Dope, hope you wont get caught, and at least have a small chance of winning without getting caught

    There really isn’t a choice – Ben Johnson is still a Canadian hero, which is way better than what he would’ve been had he been clean. If you want to criticize something, criticize the system, not the athletes – the way I see it, they really have only one choice.