No Paybacks Please!
Q: What do our athletes owe us? A: Nothing.
Many of us on a WhatsApp group dedicated to discussing all things Sports were first surprised and then dismayed with the Badminton coach Prakash Padukone’s statements1 soon after his ward Lakshya Sen lost the bronze medal match to Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia. Having won the first game and leading in the second, Lakshya had the match in his grasp but could not hold his nerve and ended up in 4th place. It is understandable that the coach must have been hugely disappointed after losing a match that Lakshya Sen had the badminton skills to win.
‘Milkha Singh was in 64 and PT Usha was in the 80s. After that, we have had so many 4th place finishes. It is work in progress but maybe it’s not at the pace at which it is required. I think it’s high time the players also need to take responsibility. At least for this Olympics and the previous one, you cannot hold the federations and government responsible for the results - They have all done whatever they can. Ultimately the responsibility is on players to go and deliver when it matters the most. They have beaten the same players in some other tournaments but when it comes to Olympics, we are not able to. The players need to introspect, and not just keep asking for more and more and more. They need to ask themselves whether they are working hard enough, because all of these players have their own physios and all the facilities. I don’t think any other country, including the US, has so many facilities. Maybe, you know, the players are not working hard enough. They need to realize that when you ask for certain things, they also need to deliver. If they don’t deliver, you need to be little firm.’
Lakshya Sen was not the only 4th place finish for India in this Olympics. There were four more in this edition who have also narrowly lost out on a podium finish.2 And this is something Prakash Padukone also touched upon in the interview. The pressure is immense at the Olympics and players end up losing games they would have won at other tournaments.
The following day, Abhinav Bindra (former Olympian and India’s first individual gold medallist) made a statement that put the 4th place in the perspective.3
‘Competing at the Olympics is an extraordinary challenge. It's a testament to the dedication and sacrifice of every athlete. I'm incredibly proud of the five Indian athletes who finished fourth in the Paris Olympics. It's a difficult time for them, but to come so close to a medal is a monumental achievement for them. It is important to recognise the hard work of not just the athletes but also the coaches, their families and the support staff. We must always stand by our athletes and appreciate the fight and resilience they demonstrate. This is a sport, not everyone can win, but in their relentless pursuit, they have already proven themselves. There will always be a time to reassess, but that time is not now. Now is the time to celebrate these athletes who represent the hopes and dreams of 1.4 billion Indians.’
This came as a relief for many of us sports fans because Prakash Padukone’s statement had found wide acceptance in India and mainstream media was amplifying the message that probably because it was giving a free pass to the Indian government and the Sports federations for having done enough.
Lakshya Sen is ranked number 14 in the world and in this Olympics, he defeated players ranked number 3, number 13 and number 12. In the semi-final he had his moments against the world number 2 and in the bronze medal match, Lakshya Sen led against a player ranked number 7. The fans and the media are given to emotional outbursts, but I expected the coach to be able to see that his ward has already punched above his weight.4
Fellow badminton player Ashwini Ponnappa also shared our disappointment at how in Lakshya Sen’s lowest moment, his coach ‘pushed him under the bus’.5
It took one whole day for me to realize why Prakash Padukone’s statements were bothering me so much.
I had been hearing these same words since the time I was in school.
Don’t you see how lucky you are?
Look at our neighbours, look at your cousins. No one is getting all this.
We didn’t get anything either when we were children. But we are providing you all this.
And it is time you also start performing well in school.
In that interview, Prakash Padukone has a little smirk on his face when he says, ‘these days the players have their own physio, own strength and conditioning trainer, own nutritionist,’ as if to suggest the players of the past performed just as well without having any of these (Padukone is a former world number 1). And immediately after this, a journalist asks him, ‘don’t you think players are mollycoddled and pampered a bit too much that puts them in a less competitive spirit?’
This is all too similar to what many of us have heard from our parents when we were kids.
Too much TV, too many outings with friends, too much playing
Even the much celebrated Indian cricket team goes through such scrutiny when they lose a big game and get knocked out of a World Cup.
Too much adulation, too many endorsement deals, too much money at the IPL
Basically, the kids are getting spoilt.
Some years back, my cousin had remarked, ‘Rohit Sharma does not even look like a sportsman these days!’ I had to remind him that Rohit had scored 5 centuries in the last World cup (2019).
Once again, such body shaming went along with reprimanding us for our school performances.
You are only growing taller and taller but your brain doesn’t seem to be growing at all
At the time of Olympics and World Cups, all of us - the state, the federations, the coaches, the media and the fans - jointly embody this unhealthy parental spirit.
We provided the facilities and showered our adulation on you – this is when you pay us back
Like it’s their Board Exams - you remember?
**
I was about 23 years old when I met Kirit uncle. He was my aunt’s neighbour in Bombay. Kirit uncle had spent all his working life in the US and had returned to live out his retirement at his hometown.
By then, I had made it through the 4 years at engineering college with much difficulty and was preparing for an entrance exam to get into a decent B-school that would hopefully set me up for life.
One evening, I visited Kirit uncle along with my 10-year-old cousin sister. She was in the overshare-with-the-neighbours phase of her life. Having just finished her mid-term exams, she proceeded to give us both a summary of her performance. ‘I think I will score about 85 in Social, at least 90 in Science, maybe 95 or 97 in Math…’. Kirit uncle smiled along and offered encouraging words at the end. He then went on to share with us that whenever his own daughter came home after a school test, all he asked her was, ‘Did you give your best?’
Kirit uncle did not have any ambitions for her to score high marks, win competitions or pursue college degrees. All he wanted her was to be her best self.
**
In an ideal setup, the state has to set aside a budget for developing sports because they see value in it, the federations has to be invested in building decent facilities because that is reason for forming the federation in the first place, and the coaching staff has to be scouting and preparing players because that’s their whole job.
And the best players from our pool of talent are to be sent to compete in international tournaments.
That is all. Everyone has to simply do their job.
Now, how do we know the player is giving their best? Here’s a person who has given up all the joys of their childhood and put in hours of practice everyday for years to get till here – to represent the nation at the biggest stage.6 Unless the player breaks their racquet on court and throws it all away, I see no reason to believe that they are not giving their best. Also, just because the opponent outplayed them is also no reason to believe the player is not working hard enough.
We are not doing them a favour by sending our best players to the Olympics and they don’t have to pay us back by winning medals.
During one of the breaks in the bronze medal match, I heard the coaches ask Lakshya Sen to ‘Play freely! Play freely!’. But we could all see that he has been burdened with the expectations of owing everyone a medal. He has to first be set free from those expectations to be able to play freely.
One time in the interview, Prakash Padukone does say, ‘maybe it’s not enough to win a medal at the Olympics’. I think that’s a moment of clarity worth unpacking further. Maybe Lakshya Sen and his compatriots can do a lot better than just owe us a medal.
I wish the coaching staff can raise the bar higher and motivate the players to become the best they can be.
The results will take care of themselves.
https://x.com/revsportzglobal/status/1820471265930485899?s=46&t=pLkN8iNqr3E_ZZ6nsbEvJA
https://x.com/RevSportzGlobal/status/1820502306544357453
https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/badminton/ashwini-ponnappa-responds-to-prakash-padukone-comments-9498029/
https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/lakshya-sen_1539849
Lakshya Sen’s picture downloaded from www.wallpapercave.com
Fresh after a defeat, when the player is likely to be emotionally overwhelmed, is an inopportune time to take stock and do an analysis. I was surprised at the timing of Padukone's comments too, never mind the contents. I too remember watching him say "Play freely" from the sidelines. But his posture, sitting back in his chair, exuded no energy. It suggested that he was done with the match even before it was over.
There's something you've picked out in the "we didn't have this much; you should be grateful" thinking. I think it is the thinking of someone who lived at a time of scarcity directed at someone who lives in a time of abundance--plenty of coaches, facilities, financial support, etc. This same thinking extends to "people are stomachs, not brains". No matter how much you feed them, do for them, they only want more.
you have put words to my thoughts. This is such a handicapping attitude that our society has. Forget sports and art which needs patronage. Even in areas like IT employment companies like TCS and Infy have managed to survive with long tenured employees without any substantial payback, thanks to making them and their families emotional about how they are treat as a global family and how much they should feel gratitude that they had a chance to get this job. It is so tiring and is one thing which is surely keep us back as a nation.