Time to herald a new dawn in sports

India’s tally of seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics will not make global headlines but can be used as a springboard by the stakeholders to usher in a sporting revolution.

Besides celebrating the extraordinary achievements of our sportspersons, who battled several odds to compete against the planet’s best athletes, we must ensure they get the required monetary and emotional support to continue excelling in their respective sporting disciplines.

The Indian Army continues to play a major role in nurturing world-class sportspersons but it is high time the civilian establishment also rises to the occasion.

The government must immediately start making elaborate arrangements to ensure the positive energy generated from the buzz surrounding the performance of our sportspersons does not get dimmed.

But a country like India has many more challenges to deal with. Despite being part of a team that punched above its weight, hockey player Vandana Katariya’s family members were hurled with casteist slurs.

With Katariya now being made the face of Uttarakhand government’s ‘Beti Bachao’ campaign, the government has sent the right signal that sportsperson need to be given the due respect that they deserve and be rolemodels for kids.

Some conversations on social media tried to draw comparisons between Neeraj Chopra’s feat and the 1983 World Cup triumph but they should not be allowed to dominate the discourse. Every victory must be celebrated and given due recognition.

Just like the World Cup achievement, Neeraj’s gold medal will also play a stirring role in propelling the profile of track and field sports in the country.

The likes of Milkha Singh, PT Usha, Abhinav Bindra and Neeraj Chopra have come up despite flaws in the system. Imagine the level of success India will get in the sporting world when our budding athletes get proper nutrition and infrastructure at the grassroots level.