Olympic gold is minted by big money

Rohit Mahajan, Sports Editor 

THE more money you pour into sport, the better you’d do in the Olympic Games. A look at the top-10 gold medal winners (until Saturday afternoon IST) reveals this. The top-10 nations had taken 156 of the 264 gold medals gold medals rewarded until then. Eight of these countries are from the West, and they are among the world’s top economic powers. The two Asian countries in the top-10 are China and Japan, both economic superpowers. The third Asian economic giant, South Korea, lies at 11th place, with 8 gold medals. In the 11-20 rank, there the some variations — we have Europeans such as Hungary, Spain, Brazil, Croatia; we also have New Zealand and Canada, Western-style societies, populated largely by European-descent people. Jamaica, Brazil and Kenya are the other countries in the top-11-20.

Economic might

For an amateur analyst of data, there is a strong correlation between the economic power of a country and its performance in the Olympic Games. Strong economies are likely to provide greater time for recreation for the citizens of the country; the facilities for sports are excellent and easily accessible and this creates greater talent pool for sports.

Sports infrastructure in India is patchy — there are islands of excellent infrastructure in India in a sea of mediocrity. The best infrastructure is rarely available to the sections of the society that actually provide the largest number of sportspersons for India — these are generally the rural, often disadvantaged sections of the society, who take up sport essentially to find employment in the public or private sector. “That’s true, most of us started sports only because we thought we’d be able to get a job,” says Dattu Bhokanal, the rower from Maharashtra.

Strong economies, also, will have better sports science research — this aspect of sport is making a big difference between a bronze and fourth place as the margins for error become tighter and tighter. “We take one step ahead, and we find that the rest of the world has moved further on,” says Ronak Pandit, the shooter who was India’s manager for the Rio Games. “They do this because they have much better access to the latest techniques and developments that are taking place in shooting.”

Food intake

Strong economies, again, will provide better food for their citizens. This is borne by the accompanying table. The citizens of US, the top gold winner on the Rio table, are among the top calorie-consumers in the world. 

India’s daily per capita calorie-consumption is 2360 — much lower than the European countries or Western style countries, the rest of the Asian countries, and often the African countries as well. To India’s 2360 calories consumed per capita per day, Nigeria’s number is 2710, Niger’s 2390, Panama’s 2450, Ivory Coast’s 2500, Indonesia’s 2550, Kyrgyzstan’s 2660, Jamaica’s 2840, Iran’s 3050, Morocco’s 3260, and Kazakhstan’s 3510.

It’s no secret that good energy intake will lead to a fitter, stronger population — they will be stronger, faster than from low calorie-consuming countries. It’s not rocket science. Food makes a difference — after the split of Korea into two, the North Koreans have become physically smaller, the South Koreans have become bigger. They are from the same gene pool, but the North Koreans suffer malnourishment, the South Koreans, much more prosperous, eat  better and do better at sport.

Genetics

Genetics is a big factor, too. The Europeans are physically bigger and stronger. The African countries provide a great secret to bridge this gap — they suffer from all the problems a country such as India faces. But they overcome the lack of infrastructure by taking up sports that require little infrastructure — mainly, it’s running. Three of Kenya’s four gold were won in mid to long distance athletics — women’s marathon, women’s 1500m and men’s 3000m steeplechase. Ethiopia’s sole gold came in the women’s 10,000 metres.

Stop thirsting for medals

It’s perhaps time we stopped obsessing over medals won, or not won, at the Olympics. It would be difficult to do that, because a nation’s pride, and the sense of pride of its citizens, is linked to these events. This is the reason that during the Cold War era, nations that confronted each other aggressively at the borders tried to win as many medals as possible to prove that they were superior to their political and ideological enemies.

When China hosted the 2008 Olympics, it went into a hyperdrive to create infrastructure and athletes — they were boosting their national pride. That effort has been bearing fruit — China now has truly world-class athletes in various sports.

But more than a nation’s pride, sport help in keeping a nation fit — this, in turn, reduces the burden on its healthcare system. This is very relevant in the context of India’s crumbling healthcare system.

We must play sport not for reasons of jingoism, but to keep fit. And if we then produce world-class athletes, fantastic! This should be India’s aim — provide kids the infrastructure, get them into sport. India should aim to improve the fitness of its citizens — national pride will then come on its own, medals or no medals.