Edit: The Games, at last-02/10/2010

02/10/2010

Edit: The Games, at last

It is little surprise that Abhinav Bindra will be the flag-bearer for India at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. After all, participating teams are aware that they make a statement by such a choice. China, for example, often settles on its basketballers to lead the contingent into the stadium — it’s perhaps less to do with their height than to the Chinese devotion to basketball, never mind that the national team is not in the reckoning for the big titles.

For a country that adhered to a gradual ascent to the top of the medals tally at the Olympics, the choice nuances otherwise facile statements about assertions of great power status through sport. For India, too long an also-ran at the big events, performance of the flag-bearer is understandably key. And Bindra, who gained for India its first individual gold at the Olympics, embodies the national aspiration for recognition in single-competition sports.

The opening ceremony of the CWG has got top billing. The entertainment may be riveting as promised, but opening ceremonies inevitably pass the spotlight to the athletes. After the hysterics of past weeks, that should be a relief. It may serve as a reality-check for why this country went to such lengths to bring the competition to Delhi, why it put up (sometimes with a readiness bordering on the masochistic) with nit-picking by anyone who cared to have an opinion on its preparedness, and why the Games should be the beginning of a process for Indian sport and not the culmination of a last-minute dash to get the facilities ready on time.

For this country, the narrative about playing host is a bit different. And again, the China parallel is instructive. Countries like China and even South Korea have used their place in the medals tally to assert their bids for events like the Olympics and Asian Games, and thereby make a statement about how far the country has come -- China's economic clout, South Korea's democratic transition.

For India, such events have been brought home because of its place in the world, and the hope has always been that local sport will benefit. So it was that the first Asian Games were hosted by India; in fact, it was the Indian Olympic chapter which won the argument that Asia needed its own games. So perhaps it's with the CWG, and the enduring desire that our athletes' performance meet the country's aspirations. Let's give them the attention that's rightfully theirs.

Source: The Indian Express