India still chase elusive gold
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-08-11 16:50

The last time India, the world's second most populous country, won an Olympic gold was way back in Moscow 24 years ago.

The only time they came anywhere near laying claim to more than one medal in an Olympics was when Calcutta-born 200-metre runner Norman Pritchard claimed two silver medals at Paris in 1900, but he competed under the British flag.

India stumbles from one Olympics to the next not sure where the next medal will come from.

One bronze in Sydney and a similar haul in Atlanta do not go far among a population of 1.1 billion.

Indian sports bosses do not expect things to be any different in Athens.

"In the last 50 years, we have not won more than one medal in one Games. We don't expect any revolution this time," Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi admitted at a function for the Athens-bound squad.

India are sending 75 athletes, but few fans in the cricket-mad country see any surefire gold medal candidate.

Critics blame self-seeking administrators, government apathy, indifference by corporate sponsors to sports other than cricket and poor infrastructure.

Meagre Haul

India's overall medal haul is a meagre eight golds, one silver and five bronze medals with just three individual third place finishes.

All the gold medals belong to their men's hockey team who won six in a row at the height of their prowess in the first half of the last century.

The hockey players also account for the silver medal besides two bronze medals, their unassailable status eroded once the game was switched from natural grass to artificial turf in 1976.

Having slumped to eighth and seventh in the last two Games, the team's chances appear dimmer this time after a lacklustre build-up which led to the abrupt sacking of coach Rajinder Singh close to the Games.

Still, some believe it need not be gloom and doom in Greece.

Indian hopes are pinned on their men's tennis doubles pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, women weightlifters, shooters and woman long jumper Anju Bobby George.

Paes, India's Davis Cup hero and winner of a surprise singles bronze medal eight years ago, has reunited with Bhupathi for the Olympics.

The former world number one pair split at the height of their prowess four years ago due to personal differences, but showed glimpses of their old chemistry by re-uniting last week to win the Toronto Masters title.

Given Birth

Woman weightlifter Karnam Malleswari, 29, is also determined to land a second Olympic medal, returning after childbirth and working extra hard to compete in the 63 kg catergory.

The 1.58m powerhouse was the country's saviour in Sydney 2000, winning a surprise bronze medal in the 69 kg to become the first Indian woman to achieve the feat before announcing her retirement after a domestic magazine dubbed her as overweight and said she drank beer in the lead-up to the Games.

"It is a battle and we are ready," declared Malleswari this week, confident she can win a second medal if she can repeat her personal best of 240 kg she achieved in Sydney.

In athletics, all eyes are on George, 27, after she became the first Indian to win a world championships bronze medal in Paris last year. But lack of rhythm in her run-up this season has pegged her best legal jump to a modest 6.71m so far.

Indian sports officials insist the overall standards are on the up, pointing to the country's best-ever medal hauls at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

But they also know that if they are to realise their ambition of hosting the 2016 Olympics, India cannot afford to remain a one-medal nation.