Why India’s Olympic dream is still a work in progress

India’s Olympic adventure has had its ups and downs, despite the fact that India is home to over 1.4 billion people.

According to CNN, Abhinav Bindra made history by winning India’s first-ever individual Olympic gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The moment should have been a turning point, but since then, India has managed to win only one more gold medal.

So, what’s going wrong? Experts like Ronojoy Sen, author of Nation in Action: A History of Sports in Indiaattribute India’s disappointing performance to a lack of investment in sports.

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Sen notes: “For countries like the US, China and the (then) Soviet Union, sport was an important part of their nascent national narrative.” India, by contrast, has been slow to invest resources in a national training programme. Moreover, challenges such as inadequate facilities, widespread malnutrition and the barriers faced by female athletes are major obstacles.

India’s performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics was mixed, with just six medals, far fewer than more populous rivals China and the United States.

There were bright spots, however, with javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra adding a silver to his Tokyo gold, and shooter Manu Bhaker winning double bronze. But overall, India was ranked 71st, behind smaller nations such as Georgia and Kazakhstan.