Only one person out of 1.4 billion people participates in the Winter Olympics: Is India just because of poverty?

A small country like the Netherlands has more than 200 grass fields and stadiums, but India, a populous country, only has 15.

Recently, the hottest topic is undoubtedly the Winter Olympics.

Unexpectedly, India, which has always loved the limelight, has made little movement.

Why does India, with a population of 1.4 billion, only have one athlete competing?

Although the epidemic situation is still severe, 91 countries and regions are still participating in this Beijing Winter Olympics, and the scene is quite spectacular.

Among them, there are 18 countries in one country, and only one person is sent to fight alone.

Most of the countries with one player in the competition have extenuating circumstances.

For example, countries such as Ecuador, Haiti, and East Timor have relatively small populations and underdeveloped economies, so it is not easy to send people to compete.

For another example, East Timor is the youngest country in Asia. It only became independent in 2002, with a total population of only 1.32 million people. It basically relies on foreign aid for its supplies.

However, India, with a population of 1.4 billion, has only one athlete participating in the Winter Olympics.

In fact, India has always been marginalized in the Winter Olympics.

As early as 1964, Indian athletes participated in the Winter Olympics.

In the nearly sixty years since then, not only has India not won a single Winter Olympic medal, but the number of people participating in each Winter Olympics has always been pitifully small.

In the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, India sent the largest number of athletes, but only four participated, one of whom was a female athlete.

Therefore, it is normal for India to send only one person to participate in this Beijing Winter Olympics.

Perhaps many people think that most of India is in the tropics, and the average performance in the Winter Olympics is normal.

But in fact, India's performance in the Summer Olympics is also very average.

Looking at the history of India's participation in the Olympic Games, although the number of participants has continued to increase, from the initial 1 person to 120 people at the Tokyo Olympics, the number of medals has been pitiful, with a total of only 35.

Especially in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, India's previously strong hockey team failed to recover and did not win any more medals. The record of the Indian Olympic team has also become even more disastrous.

Since the 1984 Olympics, India has not won a medal in three consecutive Olympics. It was not until the 1996 Atlanta Olympics that India won a bronze medal in tennis.

2008 is regarded as India’s Olympic year. In the 10-meter air rifle competition of the Beijing Olympics, Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal. This was also the first time India has won the gold medal since participating in the Olympics. The first gold medal in individual event competition in history.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Indian delegation improved its medal count, winning one gold medal, 2 silver medals and 4 bronze medals. The number of medals was the highest ever.

But this result is really unachievable for India.

And in recent years, although it seems that India has won more medals, its ranking has actually been declining.

The 1980 Olympics could still be ranked 23rd, but the 2020 Olympics can only be ranked 48th.

It is hard to believe that a small country like San Marino can easily surpass India in the number of Olympic medals per capita. It is really embarrassing.

India has few Olympic medals, mainly because it is difficult for ordinary people to train and the country does not support it.

In the movie "Dangal," the heroine's father applied for funds from the sports department in order to buy a wrestling mat for his daughter.

Although they knew that the heroine had talent and could achieve honors, the officials still rejected the heroine's father's request.

The reason is: the state's allocation for sports is too small, and the money allocated to the women's wrestling team is even less.

Although it is a movie, it truly reflects the plight of athletes in India. Without money, no matter how talented they are, it is difficult to get national training.

India, which once ranked fifth in the world in GDP, invests more than 60 billion US dollars in military expenditure every year, but its total investment in sports is only 200 million US dollars, which is a fraction of its military investment.

In the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Indian delegation only won one silver medal and one bronze medal. It was a big blow, so the Indian government began to vigorously develop sports.

Although India has increased its investment in sports to 380 million US dollars, there is not much money dedicated to Olympic sports.

According to data from the Indian Federal Ministry of Sports, during the Tokyo Olympics cycle, the Indian government distributed 830 million rupees (approximately US$10 million) in bonuses to athletes, of which nearly 30% were earmarked for training. Olympic talent.

In other words, India has actually spent US$3 million on cultivating Olympic talents, which is a drop in the bucket compared to other countries.

When Japan, as the host country, was preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, in order to enter the top three in the medal list, Japan invested US$3 billion in training athletes, 1,000 times that of India.

Australia, which has fewer followers than Sun Yang’s Weibo, also gives US$250 million to the Olympic Organizing Committee every year, of which more than US$100 million is spent on top athletes.

According to statistics from Canada's "National Post", the Canadian federal government invests 200 million Canadian dollars (approximately 150 million U.S. dollars) every year, which includes subsidies for ordinary athletes, the cost of competing for Olympic medals, and the following: The cost of an Olympic cycle and the development of the next generation of athletes.

To be specific, the Canadian government’s direct investment during an Olympic cycle is as high as 130 million Canadian dollars (approximately 100 million U.S. dollars).

So, without the support of the country, it is actually very difficult for athletes to participate in the Olympics.

Those Indian athletes who can participate in the Olympics will have a harder time realizing their dreams if they do not have a wealthy family.

The 32-year-old Arif Khan, as the only Indian athlete in this Winter Olympics, is actually participating in the Olympics for the first time.

In fact, he had a chance to participate in the last PyeongChang Olympics, but had to give up midway because he had no money.

Since Arif was a child, his father has run a small ski shop, so he became associated with skiing and embarked on a career path.

In 2008, 18-year-old Arif officially entered the professional ski team to receive professional training. In 14 years, he participated in 127 international events.

In order to practice skiing, Arif spends an additional 6 million rupees (approximately RMB 500,000) every year to train and compete abroad.

Since there is no one to sponsor, Arif’s expenses for participating in the ski competition are basically paid for at his own expense. This money puts a heavy financial burden on their family and their life is very difficult.

Before the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, Arif launched a crowdfunding plan in order to raise enough funds to participate in the Winter Olympics qualifying competition.

But after participating in four games, Arif had no money to continue participating in the fifth game, and ultimately failed to advance to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

But Arif did not give up. The local Indian government and some Indian companies provided sponsorship for his training, travel and equipment, plus the funds obtained from his second online crowdfunding, allowing him to Can successfully participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Although the ranking in the competition was not good, as he said, being able to be on the stage of the Winter Olympics is a dream come true.

Compared with Arif Khan, shooter Abhinav Bindra has undoubtedly achieved better results.

He is India's first Olympic individual event gold medalist, and in one fell swoop broke the curse of India not having a gold medal in the Olympic Games for 28 years.

However, Abhinav's success has a lot to do with his wealthy family.

Since the local training level and equipment in India could not meet the basic conditions for training, his family sent him to Germany to receive professional shooting training since he was a child.

In order to facilitate practice, Abhinav’s parents also built a private indoor shooting range for him to help him improve his performance quickly.

It can be said that whether it is Arif or Abhinav, their experiences illustrate the fact that without money, do not want to be an athlete in India.

You must know that in high-end sports such as golf, equestrian, and rugby, it costs astronomical amounts of money to train athletes, and a set of qualified equipment for the whole body will cost a middle-income Indian family almost a year. expenses.

Even in relatively civilian sports such as football, basketball, and swimming, it is difficult to improve without a suitable training venue.

However, decent training venues and equipment require huge expenses to support.

But in India, the number of basic sports grounds is pitifully few.

Cricket legend Kapi Dev once lamented: "A small country like the Netherlands has more than 200 grass stadiums, but India, a populous country, only has 15."

At the same time, well-equipped trainers, team doctors, nutritionists, coaches and other necessary training personnel also need sufficient financial resources to support them. Without any of them, players will not be able to achieve results.

Due to lack of money, many good sports seedlings in India have been delayed, and it is naturally difficult for Indian sports to develop greatly.

In India, people from a family like Gu Ailing may succeed, but people from a family like Quan Hongchan will never get ahead.

Indian sports are poor, and there are racial and religious reasons.

As we all know, Indians’ caste concept has always been deeply rooted.

In the Indian concept, high-caste people are born to be pampered, but low-caste people need to do menial and menial manual labor for a long time.

Although India's caste system was abolished as early as 1947, the concept of leaving physical activities to the poor at the bottom has never changed.

Sports such as running, jumping, and swimming are not considered humble in the eyes of the upper class, but they are not noble either. They are just games for the aristocracy to entertain themselves.

At the same time, many people in India practice abstinence because of their religious beliefs, while athletes consume a lot of energy and need to eat meat regularly.

Therefore, the middle and upper classes are bound by the concept of caste and naturally stay away from sports. This kind of thinking has also affected the sports atmosphere of the entire Indian society. Athletes from "lower castes" do not dare to compete in sports. Higher level breakthroughs and pursuits.

The static practice of yoga has become a more popular form of physical fitness among Indians.

The "New Indian Express" once reported, "Under the caste system, intellectual achievements are more valued, while labor and activities related to physical strength are considered to be done by low-caste talents. This kind of cultural influence It is also reflected in the way schools and parents treat sports.”

Of course, the main reason is that India is too poor.

India’s agricultural population accounts for 70% of the total population, and most of them live in places with lack of water, electricity, and poor transportation.

For India, improving residents' living standards and popularizing literacy education are the focus of the government's work.

Without the support of the state, ordinary people, even if they have sports talent, have to first support their families.

After all, filling your stomach is the most realistic option compared to being an athlete.

Most sports have little development prospects in India, and it is extremely difficult for India to produce an Olympic champion.

Sports is an important symbol of social development and human progress, and an important manifestation of comprehensive national strength and national soft power.

Taking advantage of being a member of the Commonwealth, India participated in the second Paris Olympics as early as 1900.

It was not until 32 years later that China had the opportunity to participate in the Olympics for the first time.

From this aspect, India started earlier than China.

However, 122 years have passed and India has only one participant in the Winter Olympics. China has not only successfully hosted the Winter Olympics, but has also won 7 gold medals in this Winter Olympics and is currently living in Asia. First.

When the national game is prosperous, sports talents are prosperous.

Looking at neighboring India, we can better understand the meaning of this sentence.