WHY INDIA IS A PERENNIAL UNDERPERFORMER AT THE OLYMPICS

osaka,japan..the long jump event...the athletics world championship,

Anju bobby george,our olympic medal hopeful,well she has been a hopeful with all of us,fellow indians hoping, for quite a few years now has failed yet again.
Miss.,.,.nope make it missus anju finished an absymal ninth with a jump 0f 6.53m.
Winning and losing is a part of every sport,why sports,even life is a win-loss story.
ALright then,Miss anju fails yet again,so what the F<>"?
What piques me is the reason miss anju gives after losing,whereas maintaining a stoic silence would have done her and everyone else more good.
Miss anju goes on to face the now omnipresent indian media's camera to give an obnoxious reason for not jumping long enough.
She says"i wasn't prepared for this competition and i had very little time before coming into the wc's".
My goddamn question is,then why the hell did she have to participate just for the heck of it.
Most of the athelete's in the land of the gandhi complain about the indian junta's lack of interest in sports other than cricket and tennis(due to a certain miss mirza).
Now why do Indians prefer cricket and to a lesser extent tennis over other sports?
The reason is loud and clear.There are very few icons or demigods or role model, as the media may brand our cricketers,for the indian sport watching public to root for or iconize or even worship.
This is not because cricket or tennis as a game is more interesting or has a better format as maybe football,hockey or even formula1.
The reason fair and square is due to the fact that the indian masses do not have heroes in other sports like they do in cricket or tennis to idolize.
Now the atheletes of the other sports start moaning that they don't get infrastructure to become eminent in their areas of sport thus not attracting big sponsors.But it may be very well to remind them that cricket and tennis also didn't receive special treatment and sponsors during its fledgling years.
Another frequently aired grouse is that there is not enough money involved in other sports or that it is not a viable career option.What beats me is whether a sportsperson plays a game for the love of it or for the sake of making money out of it or even for the glamour attached a particular sport.Take for example,An olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Rathore.Major Rathore,employed by the indian army went on to win an olympic silver at the greece olympics.Similarly many atheletes of various sports are employed by various PSU's and even a few corporates mainly due to their sporting prowess.So what is the big hue and cry about not being able to make a livelihood playing a particular sport when getting employed because of their sporting background is a good feasible option.

True that the basic sporting infrastructure in our country has to be revamped at the earliest.But,at the same time it is very imperative for the atheletes of some of the lesser popular sports of our country to buck up,get their acts together and deliver.A flash here and a dash there will not do.Consistent superlative performances are key.Only this and nothing else will get them to be real heroes and icons in the land of a billion plus and also signal an end to their woes of not attracting
enough cash,support or even glamour.The recent HINDI(balls to bollywood)movie chak de was refreshingly nice and crisp and a few media reports(god knows the veracity of these claims)that the sale of hockey sticks have actually increased post chak de are heartening.And comments like anju bobby george's are a definite no-no.They are discouraging and pathetic and do more damage to the sport and the morale of the armchair enthusiasts.So lets hope we have a few more medals than the last olympics.and hopefully anju bobby george is not named anju booby george.nevermind.
P.S:Though Chak-de might have increased the sale of hockey sticks,the formation of a competitive hockey league at mumbai had virtually zero response.
As someone rightly remarked-the more things change,the more they remain the same.lol