Aha! Indians bagging track, and field medals no more uncommon

Two Indians secured gold and silver in the triple jump of the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, sending the entire country into rapture. Our countrymen’s accomplishment in international sporting events is always passionately received. What sent us into ecstasy is the fact that the achievement was in an athletics event, something we have only occasionally done well in. That too, with a bronze here and “missed podium finish my 100th of a second” there.

Up until recent times, most medals Indians have won in world-class tournaments have been in non-track and-field events. For a country that’s seldom excelled in individual track and field events to take the top two slots in one event is heady stuff indeed.

That both of them come from the same state, Kerala, would surely qualify for the Ripley’s thing. Wait a minute. Therein lies the secret to the feat. Competition brings the best out of a participant, thus causing improvement. And that’s probably why we have fared poorly in the international arena hitherto. Rivalry from within has been limited.

 To a large extent, Pullela Gopichand changed that. After he propped Saina to stand among the best in the world, India badminton has made world-beating a habit. Numerology may also have played its part, Sania would want to add here.

A decade ago, boxers and weightlifters of the northeast decided to bring the area onto the map, India’s! And have been doing it with aplomb ever since. If India ended the Birmingham chapter at an impressive fourth on the medals list, we have this factor to be grateful to. As many as 22 medals of the Indian total of 61 came from these exploits. Don’t forget the task became more daunting in the absence of archery and shooting events after reaping big in the tournament last time around.

 The Indian contingent may well have got the ideal jumpstart, what with Neeraj Chopra being declared the Tricolour-bearer at the opening ceremony. The Olympics gold medallist is sure to have bolstered confidence of the team in the other quadrennial sporting event of equivalent repute. An injury to the javelin thrower, though, necessitated PV Sindhu and Manpreet Singh – inspirational names in their own right – doing the honours instead.

Self-belief can do wonders to a sportsperson, which reflected in the performance of our athletes. A number of national records were sent into oblivion at the home turf of the British Empire. Avinash Sable made it from Siachen to the CWG podium to land silver. The Mahar Regiment Indian Army man missed gold by a mere 0.05 sec (1/10th of half a second, for Pete’s sake!). In the process, he shook off hold the Kenyans have had over the 3,000m steeplechase. This is the first time after six CWGs that a non-Kenyan runner got any medal in the event.

 Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar’s saga was no less heart-wrenching. To miss out on quashing the myth that his countrymen are not at par with those from “superior races” around the world by a debatable foul call is going to take at least four years to overcome. Fret not champ, you’ve made us look at gold as a possibility