One more Olympic is here. where are we standing ?

Its a shame for a country like India to participate in Olympic.

Some facts i got from an article by Neeta Lal which was there in Asia Times :

For one, a nation of a billion-plus people – the world’s most populous democracy – has dispatched a small squad of 57 athletes (and 42 officials) to the Games. In other words, with a total of 28 sports and 302 events to compete in, only a meager 57 Indians athletes are qualified participants.

Contrast this with the United States, which marches into Beijing with a powerhouse contingent of 596 athletes. China has 639 and even tiny Estonia has 47 representatives. In terms of the total Olympic medal tallied, India ranks even behind Nigeria, a country whose economy is one-twentieth of its size.

Since India started participating in the Games in 1900, it has managed only 17 medals and only 12 since its independence in 1947. Even this abysmal tally is skewed, as the bulk of the medals (11) have been won in field hockey a team sport for which India didn’t qualify this year.

Most disquieting for Indian sport lovers this year is not the tiny squad, not even the past dismal record, but the glaring omission of India’s national sport - hockey – from the Olympic contingent. This is all the more hurtful considering this is the first time that the Indian hockey team has ever failed to qualify.

Why does India perform so poorly at the Olympics? Why does a nation that awes the world with its IT prowess, its spectacular economic growth trajectory and its ever expanding list of billionaires, score so dismally in global sports?

For one, India’s annual budget for sports is too meager. This year’s US$280 million worth of funding is overshadowed by international standards. For example, China’s – one of India’s biggest rivals – has earmarked $2 billion for this year’s Games.

About half the money from India’s outlay will be channeled towards administrative expenses and the salaries of officials and bureaucrats. In other words, much of it will be gobbled up in administrative expense rather than the crucial training of athletes. The few international star athletes which India has produced (Sania Mirza, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in tennis and Vishwanathan Anand in chess, to name a few) have succeeded in spite – not because of – the nation’s sports administration systems.
India has much to learn before it can impress the world with its sporting prowess

Lets watch and see how our stupid SAI response to this situation.