In the build up to London Olympics, it looked like that it would be their best Olympic Games for India ever. But then India started off their campaign on a sad note and the high profile Indian archery team made an early exit, Abhinav Bindra failed to qualify for the finals and Indian hockey as usual started with a loss, making it seem like bettering the Beijing performance would be a myth.
But then Gagan Narang broke the shackles and won India its first medal at the 10 m air rifle event. Thereafter, India made a slow but steady progress and doubled its medal haul from Beijing. Though it was nowhere close to the meadl tally of top sporting nations, nevertheless, it was commendable.
Even though India saw some upsets like Ronjan Sodhi, Abhinav Bindra, Deepika Kumari to name a few, the medal tally at London does indicate at the times to come. India never was a force to reckon to when it came to Olympics, but then this might well be the start.
From 1952 to 1996, India failed to win an individual medal at Olympics and it was Leander Paes who broke the jinx by winning a bronze at Atlanta. Following that, India returned with medal in every edition. The achievements at Beijing Olympics, where they won three individual medals including a gold, did instill a sense of optimism in India and the country started to take Olympic sports rather seriously.
Prior to Beijing, India entered the Olympic arena just for the sake of participation and no one even expected much from the athletes. But then that outlook has changed and it was all due to the achievements at Beijing Olympics. India entered London to win and the result shows that. It might not be that great as compared to other nations but then it is a start. There always was a social stigma engulfing the Indians about taking to Olympic sport but then it has been erased. Seeds of this self confidence were sown back in 2004 with the silver medal win by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and this Olympic might very well see a new sporting India arise.
Performance in Beijing also made the corporate to come forward and lend their support to the athletes. Private bodies like Mittals Champions Trust and Olympic Gold Quest are working efficiently to make the country a sporting nation. If Beijing created an opening, London surely has taken few paces in order to bridge the gap and in coming Olympics in Rio, a lot can be expected from the Indian athletes.
Indian medallist at London:
Sushil Kumar (silver in wrestling), Vijay Kumar (silver in shooting), Gagan Narang (bronze in shooting), Mary Kom (bronze in boxing), Saina Nehwal (bronze in badminton) and Yogeshwar Dutt (bronze in wrestling)
