Questing Olympians from Assam

Mintu Sarma

(The writer can be reached at sarmamintu9@gmail.com)

To become an Olympian or winning an Olympic medal is the ultimate goal of athletes. All athletes cannot convert the golden dreams to tangible reality; a few of them could qualify for the prestigious sporting extravaganza. Sports generate much interest but when the time comes to incentives and participation, there is a wide gap. History depicts that the Olympic Games have a hoary tradition of being a part of a religious festival in honour of Zeus, the father of the Greek God and Goddesses. It started in 776 BC and was conducted every four years up to 393 AD in the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia which gave the name of Olympic, had lapsed into obscurity in course of time. After being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I, Olympic Games had been rejuvenated as modern Olympic in Athens in 1896 after 1,500 years. The first modern Olympic was held comprising only 280 participants from 12 nations competing in 43 events. Since then, the Olympic Games have come a long way and become the major international multi-sport event. Though India did not participate in the first modern Olympic, the country scripted golden history in its debut Paris Olympic 1900 with a lone athlete Norman Pritchard winning two silver medals and become the first Asian nation to win an Olympic medal. Hitherto Indian athletes won a total of 35 medals comprising ten Gold, 9 Silver and 16 Bronze, all at the summer Olympics but the Olympic medal was a pipe dream till Rio Olympic 2016 for the Olympians from Assam. But Lovlina Borghohain has overcome that jinx in Tokyo Olympic 2020.

Tokyo Olympic 2020 was the most successful Olympic Games for India, winning seven Olympic medals comprising one Gold, two Silver, and four Bronze. The irony is that the world's second populated country has been struggling to raise medal count from the days of yore. Neeraj Chopra from Haryana scripted history winning a Gold medal for the country. He is the first athlete and second Indian Olympian after Abhinav Bindra who won the Gold medal in Olympics. Assam's proud daughter Pugilist Lovlina Borgohain becomes the first-ever from Assam to win an Olympic medal for the country.

Though Assam produced several top-class sports person in different disciplines like table tennis, running, swimming and badminton; it was not until 1992 that Assam could produce another Olympian after Talimeren Ao. Footballer Talimeren Ao was the first Olympian from undivided Assam who represented India in London Olympic 1948 as the captain of the Indian football team. India's first game against Burma was a walkover but the team narrowly lost to France. The barefooted Indian football team gave tough contest against mighty France. At the press conference, the Indians were asked why they played barefooted. Talimeren Ao said, "Well, you see, we play football in India, whereas you play bootball". The comment was highly praised by the British media and it was splashed in all the newspapers of London. Dipankar Bhattacharjee was one of the best players in Indian badminton history. He became the first male badminton player to represent India in two consecutive Olympics - Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996). Subsequently, boxer Shiva Thapa qualified for the London Olympics 2012 and the Rio Olympics 2016. Another Assamese, the archer Jayanta Talukdar represented India in the 2012 Olympics. Boxer Lovlina Borgohai is the fifth Olympian from the state who eventually filled the blank Olympic medalist in Assam which was lying blank from the inception of the Olympic Games. The scenario of scanty Olympians from Assam reflects the appalling failure to develop a sports culture in the state. It is preciously due to the prolonged neglect suffered by the sports education in Assam.

The Tokyo glory of Lovlina will inspire one portion of youth from Assam to take up the sport as a career. But their aspirations may be impoverished by the absence of smart sports policy in the state. Though Sports Authority of Assam maintains and runs the different stadiums specially situated in Guwahati but not succeeded in developing a culture of sports and games among the youth of Assam. To generate sports as a career prospect, the government needs to allocate more funds to sports, sports infrastructure need to be upgraded to international standard. Organizing "regional leagues" in every sport and restarting school tournaments will provide an opportunity for young athletes to hone their skills at various levels. It will build a competitive spirit as well as enhance the sports ecosystem in the state. The Government should create more posts of sports teachers in schools irrespective of courses during sports career and need to enhance the sports quota in various academic institutions. The good news is that the new National Education Policy (NEP) has included a mechanism that will make sports education an attractive option for students. The Central Government has already declared that Manipur will get India's first sports university which will be a boon for sportspersons to make an attractive and honourable career.

The present Chief Minister of Assam is a very dynamic person and we hope that he will go the extra mile to create the right supporting atmosphere whereby sports education would flourish in the state. But above all, people need to change their attitude and come forward to develop a sports culture in the society then only there would open the floodgates for Assam to generate more Olympians in the future.