India has won four medals in the London Olympics so far bettering their Beijing Games tally and the country has a lot to learn from it. Out of the four medals won till now are equally shared by the men and female athletes.
Well maybe this is the opening that the country required. Back in 2000 Sydney Olympics when Karnam Malleshwari won the bronze medal in weightlifting it looked like the number of female athletes would go up. It did go up but then the still the number is not that high as compared to their fellow male athletes.
For the record this time out of the 81 athletes that has represented India at London Olympics, only 23 athletes are female rest 58 are males. Now the conversion rate is visibly high among the females. The rate is that not that high but then at least better than males.
So this should act as an eye opener and the authority concerned should try and promote more of female athletes. And it is a fact that female athletes are neglected, be it in sponsorship, coaching facilities or patronage.
And this disparity is due to the age old male chauvinism that exists in the country. There is nothing much that could be argued on this front but it is indeed the scene. A classic example to this is the Indian Hockey Team. They have everything starting from foreign coach and fitness trainer, high facility training, exposure trips and it can just go on. And if a comparison is drawn with the women’s team then the difference can be clearly seen. After getting so many facilities the men’s teams still disappointed and failed to deliver. It is not being said that the women’s team would have won a medal for sure had they got same kind of facilities as compared to the men’s team but then it is worth a try.
Even the way All India Tennis Federation (AITA) dealt with the whole tennis fiasco reflects the male chauvinism prevailing in the society. AITA did not leave any stone unturned to try and pacify the ego of the male players but then when it came to Sania Mirza they just imposed their decision on her without even consulting her. This kind of treatment if not affect a player but then would stop any female athletes come up and take to professional sport.
And it is not only the authorities at helm that is responsible for this uneven ratio but also the society. Call it chauvinism or ignorance, the larger picture is that the women are never supported in this cause and indeed the athletes who come up to this level they have to come through lot of adversities if not all but then some.
The whole country is talking about Mary Kom who made the country proud by winning a bronze. She is the same boxer who has won five consecutive world championships but never did she get the fame she deserved. She wanted badly to win an Olympic medal because she wanted recognition. Can that get any sad for an athlete who after doing so much for the country has not got her share respect. It is only now that she is a household name.
There is nothing that much could be said and the country will not learn from it and still would promote men’s and keep on neglected women athletes. All that the country can hope is that the brave hearts like Saina and Mary keep on performing and make the country realise that the time has indeed come to show the female athletes some respect.
By Indian Sports News Network
