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Journalism of Courage
The Games are over, and few will be happier than the men controlling Indian sport. The searching spotlight is off them, their 15 minutes of shame has ended and they can now get back to doing what they do best: run sport into the ground. Cricket returns to its prime position on the sports pages and in our consciousness and, till the Asiad rolls by two years hence, all8217;s well with the world. Yet this is the perfect time, as never before, for India to build on the very discernible advantages accruing from Athens 8217;04. For one, the satisfaction of seeing how our sportsmen have progressed, breaking records and setting standards in archery, shooting, athletics. Two out of these three are disciplines easy and inexpensive to spread and nurture across the country; the third, shooting, now has role models intelligent and enthusiastic enough to pull their weight.
On a larger point, the Games have shown that the Indian public is not, as famously believed, averse to watching sport other than cricket, providing it is credible, well-packaged and has sufficient star quality. An event as mundane as the women8217;s pole vault made for some gripping viewing simply because of the fierce competition between the two top contenders 8212; and the way it was telecast, with expert commentary and camerawork. Two cricket world cups and several other multinational tournaments have shown that India can play host as well as anyone else; why can8217;t we extend that same level of organisation outside cricket? Later this year, India will be host to the World Half-Marathon; if it can rope in some of the top names, it is halfway through the marathon job of selling the event.
