A reflective gaze into the labyrinth of Indian sports to capture its glory and agony in international arena, especially at the Olympics, is an emotional strain. India’s sporting journey has been a saga of enduring faith in the face of persistent fiascos, and the mood over the past few decades has been of despair.

Yes, the likes of Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Singh, Sushil Kumar, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Leander Paes have provided the occasional flickers of joy and hope but a few stray successes should not be construed as the victory of the nation and the sports authorities. These occasional successes, as we have seen on numerous occasions, will not give any fillip to Indian sports, for a majority of these triumphs were a result of personal endeavours, not of our sporting system.

Bindra’s victory in Beijing Olympics was scripted by his hard work, dedication and the resources he had at his command, thanks to his moneyed father. He put together everything that Bindra needed to become a champion shooter – right from building a personal shooting range in their backyard to providing him with the best coaches and trainers.

Similarly, Paes won bronze in Atlanta Olympics in 1996 because he had the will and temperament to excel, not because All India Tennis Federation had prepared him to be a winner; Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (in Athens) and Vijay Kumar (in London) won silver medals because they were trained and supported by Army, not by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

And then who can forget the agonising tale of Mary Kom who had to fight against all odds before landing a bronze in the 2012 London Olympics. Despite being a world champion for multiple times, she lived in ignominy until the London feat gave her the due recognition. So she, too, can’t be called the product of the system – hers is a triumph of dogged determination, a victory over cynicism.

In between, we have had the likes of Sushil Kumar, Vijender Singh, Saina Nehwal, Yogeshwar Dutt, and Gagan Narang. All of them have brought laurels for the country in the Olympics and in other international events, but their success, too, is largely a result of their own perseverance and industry.

And the recent poster girls of Indian sports – Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu – too have their tales of struggle before getting the recognition at the Rio Olympics. Sakshi had to battle social biases and sexism to learn wrestling, while PV Sindhu’s success could be attributed to the sacrifices of her parents and dedication and meticulous planning of her coach Pullela Gopichand. Sindhu’s father PV Ramana being an Arjuna Awardee and an Asian Games medal winner in volleyball, took long leave to help Sindhu prepare for the Olympics, while Gopichand -- who himself had to fight all odds to establish the Gopichand Badminton Academy, which has been churning out champions since 2008 – had sacrificed his personal life, training his protégés without a break.

Now, if the sports federations, the IOA and the government take credit for the triumph of these athletes, it’s simply absurd. In a country where sports federations and the officials are more bothered about feathering their own nests (the reports of Haryana sports minister Anil Vij and entourage making merry in Rio at the cost of state exchequer being the recent case) than the welfare of the sportspersons; in a country where over 90 percent of Indian schools hardly have any facility for sports activities; in a country where the sports ministry hardly has any control over sports federations; in a country where we hardly care about our athletes in between the Olympics, expecting medals from them at the mega event where over 200 countries compete is asking for too much.

For India to win medals, it has to become a sporting nation first. It needs to have a political willpower – the willpower to free sports bodies from the clutches of greedy officials, the resolve to eradicate corruption, the determination to clear all obstacles and develop strategies without any further delay.

China went into the 29th Olympics (Beijing) with a clear intention of emerging champion in that edition of the mega event, and they did it. And we, the country of over a billion people, merely make up the numbers at the world stage. It exposes the degenerating system that has touched its nadir and has fallen into the vortex of corruption to such an extent that war-like measures are required to put India back on the sporting tracks.