“Go vocal for local” seems to be an apt slogan for Indian sports media to follow. Having been an athlete since 1968 I remember the days when I was young. The first competition I took part in was Delhi State Athletics and performing better there won me a published photo of mine in a newspaper.
It was the initial push that I needed for further motivation, and it helped me to dedicate myself to running. However, when I compare this with contemporary coverage I see most papers do not even bother to publish results of kids I coach. Their parents do not feel excited to support them, and they go back to their villages. So while top sportsmen at the Olympics receive a lot of coverage and awards, the indispensable publicity at the grassroots level is blatantly getting ignored. I remember in much the same manner, not many had heard of Dipa Karmakar in gymnastics and Sakshi Malik for wrestling before the Olympics. Suddenly we see such a world-class performance at the Olympics. Their self-motivation and the fact that they overcame such obstacles are altogether praiseworthy. Similarly, many performers in swimming nowadays are very good, but not enough is written about them. Virdhawail Khade’s Bronze medal winning at Asian Games and his consistent National record-breaking performances do not receive adequate coverage either. Finalists of Olympics like Sri Ram Singh are still not very popular. Similarly, P.T. Usha despite being a brilliant performer in the Los Angeles Olympics, because she finished fourth, did not receive as much attention.
Today’s coverage on sports pages devotes more attention to the English Premier League, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo rather than Indian football heroes.
The Writer, a former National Junior Champion in Athletics, has studied Sports Science at Loughborough University, UK.
