PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES: A DREAM SPECTACLE
An ancient saying goes ‘Paris lives so long as Seine flows’.
Paris truly lived it up on that colorful evening of 11 July as Seine flowed majestically and its ornated bridges and monuments on either side came alive in French colors marking the opening ceremony of the 33rd Summer Olympiad.
A flotilla of boats, big and small, featuring athletes in their ceremonial attire floated down Seine as a part of traditional Parade of Nations as thousands of artists performed and crowds cheered them on. In his basilica, built in 6th century, Saint Denis, known as the Patron saint of France and guardian Angel of Paris must have been very pleased watching the spectacle from the heights of mount Montmartre.
The noble soul for sure, must have been appalled to see the ‘Last Supper’ served during the ceremony when none had appetite for it.
Lady Gaga’ rendition of Parisin jazz Mon-truc-en-plumes, a rousing performance by French-Mali pop singer Aya Nakamura’ and Celine Dion’s rendition of Edith Piaf’s ‘Ode to Love’ from atop the Eiffel Tower created a spectacular opening ceremony as history and culture waltzed in the City of Love.
Sadly, on the eve of the Games, a shelter home for school kids on the Gaza strip was bombed killing 14 children. From a tiny boat in the flotilla, 4 Palestinian athletes raised a hand in protest. On a drifting raft, from a burning piano, the pianist and singer duo of Juliette Armanet and Sofiane Pamart performed John Lennon’s ‘Imagine there is no countries…nothing to kill or die for…. imagine all the people living life in peace …
In an unequal world, the lyrics went largely unnoticed. The cauldron rose into the sky and the Games were declared open.
LEGENDS AND SHOW STEALERS
Every Olympic Games produces a few athletes who become legends in their lifetime and the Games become suffix to their names.
Carl Lewis was one such legend who won 4 Gold medals to become the face of the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984.
In Beijing Olympics in 2008, in a venue not far from Tiananmen Squire, Michael Phelps of USA swept away the Communist State with 8 Gold medals to become a swimming legend. The Olympics held in Rio in 2016 will forever bring back memories of Usain Bolt winning 3 Gold medals in 100M, 200M and the short relay to become the greatest sprinter ever in the history of athletics.
These are athletes in whom ‘the elements so mixed that the Nature stood up to say here is a legend…..
Paris Olympic Games will be remembered for three iconic stars; Leon Marchand, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles’
As Leon Marchand won 4 swimming gold medals with each one in a new Olympic record, a French legend was born. He is already King Leon for a whole new generation. Not to be left behind in a gender-balanced Games, Katie Ledecky of USA won her 9th Olympic Gold to join the league of legends.
Away from the splash of water at Bercy Arena, the venue of Gymnastics, in front of a delirious crowd that included celebrities Snoop Dogg and Mick Jagger, the lithe Simone Biles’ won her 9th overall Olympic Gold making her the greatest gymnast ever. Remember, she came from the brink after being diagnosed with a life- threatening syndrome discovered during the Tokyo Olympics.
They are all prodigal creation of the divine; ‘non-biological’- as the phrase goes.
The 17-day Olympic schedule was studded with several memorable and breathtaking moments created by sportspersons who challenged and succeeded in trespassing the boundaries of human endurance. They were the ultimate show stealers in the Games
There was Thea Lafond who won the gold in women’s triple jump and was quick to announce the name of her Caribbean Island nation with a population of 70000. She emphasized that it was Dominica and not Dominican Republic.
Julien Alfred representing Saint Lucia, another small Caribbean Island nation with no running tracks, earned the title of the fastest woman with a Gold in 100M
While recovering from a bout of covid, Noah Lyles of USA ran a blistering race to become the fastest man on earth. Faith Kipyegon from Kenya produced a fearless run over 1500M to attain legendary status by winning her 3rd Olympic Gold in three successive Olympics!
Botswana, a land locked nation in the south of Africa, is primarily known for its wildlife. L Tebogo has changed it all. This phenomenal athlete not only won the 200M Gold crushing American dreams, he also anchored the 4/400 relay team to a silver, nearly upsetting the Champions USA
On the last day of the Games, the indefatigable Sifan Hassan of Ethiopian origin, representing Netherlands, won the marathon after having already won medals in 5000M and 10000M just a few days earlier!
These feats are the stuff of folklore. Neeraj Chopra is the quintessential Indian athlete who walks into this pantheon of greats.
INDIAN CAMPAIGN………CAST IN BRONZE
The medal table is a mirror that shows the truth without a blur.
For a nation aspiring to host the Olympic Games in the not-too-distant future, India’s tryst for Olympic glory at Paris ended in despair with the 71st place finish. It was despairing because enormous sums of money were invested in preparing this team over the past few years. From engaging foreign coaches to providing training and competition in Europe and US with enhanced scientific support- no effort was spared, no corners were cut.
From a 117 strong contingent, the dream of a double-digit medal tally including a couple of golds/ silver was not unfair. Except for the lone warrior Neeraj Chopra, these dreams were cast aside or cast in bronze.
There were, no doubt, a few gritty performances that deserve merit and facilitation. That these came from the young ones like Manu Bhakar, Sarabjot Singh, Swapnil Kosale, Lakshya Sen, Aman Sehrawat provide a silver lining. Resurgence of Hockey team and role of its hero Srijesh deserve salutation.
Did the 4th place jinx of legendary Milkha Singh and PT Usha come back to haunt the Indian contingent in Paris with as many as 6 of them finishing at the fourth place? Not likely.
Was it the burden of ‘carrying 1.4 billion dreams’ that stressed them out of competition? Possibly Yes. May be without this unnecessary burden our athletes may have soared higher; the way Arshad Nadeem, L Tebogo and Julien Alfred did. In any case, one should not count a billion, whose dreams remain limited to the struggle for daily livelihood.
Renowned Tarun Tahiliani, who designed ceremonial dress of the Indian contingent, also had a 4th place finish. The attire went as unnoticed in the opening ceremony as the performance of most in the contingent during the Games!!
Prakash Padukone was the lone voice of courage to call a spade a spade; asking players to introspect and be responsible for giving their best.
Javelin events of Paris Games were a watershed moment in Athletics history of Asia. As Arshad Nadeem and Neeraj Chopra won the gold and silver in Men’s event, Japan’s Kitaguchi won the Gold in Women’s event putting the seal of Asian supremacy for the first time in Olympics. This could be a precursor to Asian challenge in shotput and discuss events.
Where politicians fail miserably, two mothers, living across the volatile Indo-Pak border, sent out a touching message of love and amity. Saroj Devi and Raziah Parveen rejoiced the Gold and Silver of their sons as if they came from the same family. This was the best takeaway from Paris Games for this region.
Javelin has travelled a long distance from its controversial past of Los Angeles Games. Gurtej Singh, selected for Javelin event after his 71M qualifying throw, was one of 8-member athletics team representing India in the Games. That was a politically difficult period; the secessionist movement for Khalistan was at its peak with strong support from some influential leaders based in LA. We had been given high security and surveillance cover. One fine morning all hell was let loose as news broke that Gurtej Singh had deserted the team and sought political asylum. The shock and dismay completely overshadowed PT Usha’s heroic run in the 400M where she missed a medal by 1/100th of a second.
Neeraj has now erased those dark shades of javelin.
ROAD TO REDEMPTION FOR LOS ANGELES OLYMPICS AND BEYOND
After Paris ignominy, is there a road to redemption?
There is. But it is not an expressway for quick access to destination.
In fact, it is a pathway that meanders through villages and small towns where the likes of Neeraj and Nadeem reside. These are feeder lines of talent in sub-junior age groups for admission to state level training centers. After the core strengths are developed, the road should then lead to National Centers of Excellence with world class training facilities to produce Olympic hopefuls. Our present ecosystem is geared to polishing just the tip of the pyramid and neglects the base.
Nita Ambani was elected to the International Olympic Committee council. Since long the seat at this high table was occupied by the royal family of Patiala. After the Constitution amendment bill of 1971 on Privy purses, this was perhaps the last of the privileges to change hands.
Hope Reliance Foundation. headed by Nita Ambani, will now take up the onerous task of strengthening the base of the pyramid rather than supporting and sponsoring just the medal prospects.
Planning for LA Olympics requires a strategy shift; it is not as if Da Vinci code is to be cracked.
Serious modelling and execution of training programs for elite athletes started with the Commonwealth Games 2010. As a result, the Indian contingent registered its best-ever performance in these Games finishing 2nd behind the mighty Australia while overtaking arch rivals England and Canada.
As step one, retain the success factors and build on the process. Don’t throw the baby out with bathwater. Even the modest success in London, Tokyo and Paris would not have come without these innovations.
As step two, undertake a sincere sWoT analysis and create two blueprints that run concurrently; one to maintain our fairly-strong position in Asian Games and the other to target medals at the Olympics.
It is in the context of Los Angeles Olympics that I have put ‘s’ and ‘o’ in small font and W and T in capital for obvious reasons. For all major sports like Swimming, diving, Gymnastics and Athletics (excluding Javelin) admission to the class of 2028 is already closed. The few seats available for admission are in Shooting, Archery, Wrestling, Boxing and Badminton.
Grab these seats; shortlist the medal prospects without losing any time and recommence training with renewed commitment. Let the contingent for LA Games 2028 comprise only serious medal contenders and not those who also ran.
INDIA’S ASPIRATIONS FOR HOSTING THE OLYMPIC GAMES
The French have an attitude towards life that is reflected in their iconic brands i.e., Louise Vuitton, YSL, Dior etc. This casual and happy and chic attitude was writ large on the closing ceremony as participants hugged and sang and danced to French music till the solemn moment arrived for extinguishing the flame.
Closing ceremonies turn emotional with adieus and au revoir and hopes to meet each other in the next Games. Many young challengers with big dreams will emerge in the intervening cycle. Only LA will tell us who all from Paris were able to weather the March of Time.
Olympic Games are not so much about glitz and glamour of opening and closing ceremonies as about the pride of place on the victory podium. After spending upward of 12-15 billion Euro, the French are savoring the success of the Games for winning 64 medals including 16 Golds that have established their country as a great sporting power. France submitted its bid to host the Olympic Games in 2005. After the bid was overlooked for the Games of 2012 (London), 2016 (Rio) and 2020 (Tokyo), it got the honor for hosting Olympics in 2024.
India has submitted its first expression of interest for hosting the Olympic Games in 2036. Let us hope the honor is bestowed upon our country for hosting the Games before 2048 during Amrut Kaal.
And let’s hope by then, sport becomes a way of life for the young and part of a national movement. Let’s hope by then we are called a sporting nation and our ecosystem and academies can produce athletes who can carry the 2 billion dreams to the podium, time and again to the chant ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam”.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
V K Verma is a former President, Badminton Association of India and a former Commercial Director, Air India.
