London Olympics 2012: We need more than shooters and boxers to deliver

Click here to EnlargeAbhinav Bindra wants to skydive. Vikas Krishnan avoids dieting. Ronjan Sodhi seeks transcendental equilibrium as the "selection criteria" dramas play out. M. C. Mary Kom gives thanks for her live-in physio. By July 2012, all this randomness should fall into place, into an order that must come from chaos. So that India can have its best-ever Olympics. Quantitatively that means more than the three medals of Beijing 2008. Qualitatively it demands that London 2012 becomes the Games to assure nail-chewing Indians that a century of Olympic incompetentce is now finally behind us.From Luxembourg, Olympic gold medallist Bindra sees very dissimilar tomorrows from his yesterdays. "Indian athletes today have more self-belief. They've had more exposure, are more competitive. They have a confidence in their abilities-that's a gift." Yet, these assured aspirants often flock to Bindra and ask but one question. Tell us, how did you do it? Master this athletic alchemy that turns sweat to gold? Bindra always says he doesn't know. There isn't one way, there's no formula. "Everybody has to go and get it themselves." In London, he will try again. He doesn't think of "another" medal, only the solitary purity of one. But the Beijing gold? "What gold?" he says, "I didn't win any medal. That's the truth in my head. It makes me more focused. I have to start from scratch. I have to be awake." It is why he is contemplating a few things to "keep my mind busy"-like skydiving.Seeking Bindra's company is leading contender Ronjan Sodhi, double trap shooter, winner of the World Cup finals, Asian Games gold medallist, among his sport's elite. He has spent the last six years in putting randomness to order: training his voice so that he call 'pull' like he should, changing his gun, shooting in conditions identical to July-August in London. Along with coach Morad Ali Khan, Sodhi has checked the storage temperature of ammunition he must use, understood the composition of the clay targets that ammunition must splinter, put together a 'clone' gun so that there's always a comfortable back-up. He has lost weight in the last year, gained experience, knowledge. His 2012 will involve three World Cups and then, London.Yet, nothing is guaranteed. Except to understand that the heady collection of 165 medals from the 2010 Commonwealth and Asian Games have melted into reality. India's Olympic medals will primarily come from shooting and boxing, where its field is bigger, wider, stronger. Nine shooters and four boxers have already qualified. Any flashes of tropical lightning could strike from wrestling, badminton, archery, tennis. Everyone else-particularly, those history-defying athletes of Guangzhou and New Delhi-is playing catch up. The groundswell of 2010 goodwill came with consequences: rather than treat the CWG and Asian Games as vital parts of a bigger act leading to London, they became a collective finale as athletes, coaches and officials ran around in celebration. When the music stopped, they were left with no logical direction. Two former athletes who run Indian sport's leading private support programmes echo each other. Mittal Champions Trust's (MCT) Manisha Malhotra says, "Nobody planned what would happen after the CWG." Viren Rasquinha of Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) says: "We did not capitalise enough on the good from 2010. A lot of athletes were out of training for months."In an inefficiently-managed sport like athletics, the women's 4x400 m relay team is now scattered. The medal-gobbling longdistance runners are merely flickering. The 10,000 m Asian Games medallists Preeja Sreedharan and Kavita Raut, and the 3,000 m steeplechaser Sudha Singh are without their coach Nikolai Snesarev.Gymnast Ashish Kumar must win gold in a qualifying event in January to get to London. His mentor, the bristling, effective, Vladimir Chertkov has left, drained of energy after arguing with India's sports establishment. During his stint, Snesarev had said presciently, "There are no bad students, only bad teachers." More than a few good teachers have been let go.Bindra's companions from Beijing-wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Singh will use the first half of 2012 to latch onto Olympic qualification. Four of Vijender's peers have already booked places. Among them are Vikas Krishnan, 19, who became only the second Indian to win a medal at the World Boxing Championships and Devendro Singh, 18, whose first international event became his ticket to the Olympics. The other two boxers for London are Manoj Kumar, gold medallist at the CWG, and Jai Bhagwan, a Guangzhou silver medallist. Krishnan, an Asian Games gold medallist in the 60kg category, won his world championship bronze in 69kg. Other than adding his natural speed to greater power, the reason for loading on 9kg before London is simple, "All boxers have to die. You lose, you get hit. You win, you get hit. I don't want to die hungry."The first of the nine shooters through is Gagan Narang. He wants London to be "third time lucky" and aims for a triple try. Along with the 10 metres air rifle he wants berths in the 50 m three position and the 50 m prone. The 50-m event is high-risk: not because it involves shooting outdoors and with live ammunition. It also requires a recalibration of a shooter's technique, his very foundation. Seventy-eight Indians, including Narang, head for the January Asian Shooting Championships in Doha, their last-chance to grab an Olympic berth.India's elite athletes today are buffered by the two privately-run bodies whose job it is to make their lives easier. The MCT runs blood tests and lipid profiles on the elite, their nutrition comes not from a Sports Authority of India (SAI) canteen line, but is tailor-made for their bodies and energy needs. Some will try hypnotherapy and mental coach Radhika Kalwra Singh, who works with Bindra, is devising programmes for the archers.Rasquinha says those under the OGQ umbrella have individually-tailored preparatory schedules. Shooters have psychologists, two boxers have masseurs on a 24-hour standby, a female physio lives in Mary Kom's Imphal home to keep her routines water-tight and distraction-free from her 'typhoon' twin sons. Discus thrower Vikas Gowda had instantly benefited from training with three-time world champion John Godina at Athletes Performance in the US.He finished seventh at the 2011 World Athletics Championship in Daegu, the best by an Indian at the worlds' after Anju Bobby George's bronze medal. Radhika Kalwra says athletes have a rare, intangible quality. "They communicate to themselves differently. Every single day, they wake up and know, 'you've got to be able to beat your own potential'. That sets them apart." Between now and July 2012, in different parts of the world, waking up every day, are Indians who will set themselves apart. From convention, from mediocrity, from history. Be patient. Their time is coming.- Sharda Ugra is Senior Editor at ESPNcricinfoPublished By: AtMigration Published On: Dec 30, 2011 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---

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London Olympics 2012: We need more than shooters and boxers to deliver

India's success at the CWG and Asian Games faces a reality check. If London 2012 is to be our best Olympics ever, we need more than shooters and boxers to deliver.

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