Watershed Olympics for India?

3 medals in 1 Olympics is the stuff of Indian dreams.

Looking back, perhaps, India's confidence at the world stage has been slowly building. Since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Indian athletes have brought in at least 1 medal. In 1996, it was Leander Paes winning the bronze in tennis singles, followed by weightlifter Karnam Malleshwari's bronze at the 2000 Sydney Games which was then upgraded to a silver in shooting by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

After four years, India's athletes have brought back three medals. While Abhinav Bindra shot gold and Sushil Kumar wrestled a bronze, Vijender Singh brought home India’s first boxing medal: a bronze.

For once, India was part of the world's largest sports extravaganza. For once, when people gush about Olympic medals, we Indians will do some gushing of our own. Granted, that the Chinese, Americans, Brits, Aussies and Europeans, would consider all the Indian gushing a bit underwhelming. But then, only a nation of people who have cracked the codes for success in every field but sports, can fathom the unbridled pride that we feel when talking about these three wonderful young men.

Some commentators (notably Gaurav Kalra of CNN-IBN) have called this the 'Miracle Olympics'. I disagree with that notion.

Because Bindra, Kumar and Singh would disagree. These men did not win because of luck or retirements. They won because they beat their opponents fairly. They won because they persevered when no one had even heard of them. They won because they kept faith when their own dismissed them and their sports. They won because success was the only way to survive in a country which seemed comfortable with settling for far less. These three men won because it was their destiny. A destiny which they earned through dint of sweat and toil and hurt and a quiet dignity.

I will not belittle them and their achievements by calling them a 'miracle'. Nature had no hand in their success. It was raw talent and hunger that saw them stand on the world stage and not blink. Abhinav, Sushil, Vijender, Akhil, Jitender, Saina: They showed no fear. There was only courage, heart and hope. And that, even more than the medals, will be their legacy.

Liu misery for China

China’s biggest superstar Liu Xiang pulled out of the 110 meters hurdles minutes before his first heat. Liu, the only Chinese trackstar, was the surprise hurdles winner at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Since then, his countrymen have been enamoured of him. His face has adorned huge hoardings and shop windows across the country. The host nation, which could hardly wait for track events to begin, was in for a huge shock when Liu pulled out. Liu's withdrawal broke the collective heart of China.

Surprisingly, I was disappointed to hear the news. While Liu is fawned over across his home nation, the star himself is quite elusive. And with no opportunities in India to catch up on world athletic events, I knew this was as good a chance as any to see this star in action.

But more than the withdrawal, the manner of it raises more questions. Why did he wait till before the first heat to withdraw? The injury was definitely not picked up that day. It was most likely something that he had suffered sometime ago. Did Liu believe that on the day, he would be fine enough to run? Or was the star under pressure from the various sponsors to withdraw only at the last moment? Some commentators seem to think so.

Whatever the truth, Liu is assured of his legendary status in China. After his announcement, there were no kneejerk reactions from his Olympic-medal mad nation. I can only hope that we Indians will learn to show the same level of maturity as the Chinese while dealing with the fragile bodies and vulnerable hearts of our sportspersons.

Isinbayeva: Pure magic always

Yelena Isinbayeva. Is she for real? Okay, I admit we have already asked this question of Sergey Bubka. For like ages…err…what do you mean that That bloke with the stick (mind out of gutter, puhleeze!) was only around for just over 10 years? He sure seemed ubiquitous. Not that anyone minded. Just as we do not mind Isinbayeva. We only heart Isinbayeva. This woman with the stick could yet be the biggest yay! for feminism. But as feminism is accused of embracing anything self-serving, we shall not indulge in the same. Rather let's do some worshipping of the pole vault variety.

Isinbayeva. This woman is pure magic. Always. A showstopper and a heart stopper too with her beautiful looks, glowing smile, proud eyes and showmanship. I want to ask her about her ever continuous quest for perfection. She intrigues me for what woman would want to jump over houses to make a living. She rebuts notions of drab female athletes. For in Beijing, no athlete has seemed as suavely cool, as confidently glamorous or shown such naked determination as this 26-year-old Russian. Or made athletics look sexy.

A wow for the way she worked the stadium crowd: And for affecting people like a colleague who came to office the next day gushing about a woman who had won some race. And then his eyes fell on a picture of Isinbayeva blowing kisses (part of an article on the star that my neighbour was reading) and he goes all gleeful and “This is her. This is the one who won the race.” Careful investigation revealed that he had switched on the television at the tail end of her victory celebrations and all he saw was her running with her country’s flag and blowing kisses.

Such is the effect of this amazing woman.

Do not know about feminism, but Isinbayeva has been one of the athletes expressing themselves exquisitely in a land accused of suppressing expression.

Long may her tribe flourish.

Bolt bolts fine enough in 100m

21-year-old Jamaican Usain Bolt is the new 100m sprint world record holder. What a magical night. How freeing to watch this tall sleek man glide through the track at half the effort of the rest of the field. No grimacing, no straining of sinews and wills fighting air resistance in the quest to be known as the fastest human in the world. Bolt only ran. And made sprint look like a jog on the beach. The world agrees that he has to be from another planet. At the least, Bolt did not run like a human. All the more reason to celebrate his naiveity; To celebrate the fact that this young man wanted nothing to do with times and records and aimed only to be champion. For it showed him up to be human after all. Bolt had run his race so effortlessly that he began celebrating his win 20m from the finish. The thump on his Jamaican jersey, the exhortation to the crowd to salute the fastest man in history, the mad jig after his victory – track could not have asked for a better man on its big night on the biggest arena of it all. Hopefully, Bolt’s glee at being champion will do more to inspire thousands of youngsters around the world to feel the wind in their hair. And maybe encourage a lot of us jaded ones to go for a run when life’s weaves get too complicated.

For bringing innocence back to the simplest of all games, for bringing joy to a million hearts watching him that night and later, for making us believe in fallible yet perfect legends and for instilling faith, here’s a salute to Bolt.

One man’s merry flight could yet launch a hundred dreams in my country. For Bolt has shown, faith and hope are not as ephemeral as we sometimes believe.

Oh and bring on the chicken nuggets! Which dolt says I cannot have nuggets and run like Bolt?(Unwittingly, Bolt might just be the new role model for anorexic couch potatoes.)

Michael 'Mighty' Phelps on his merry way!!!

Michael Phelps, on course for Mark Spitz's record of 7 Olympic golds, has won his fifth gold with the US 4x200m freestyle relay team in a world record time of 6min 58.56sec. The 23-year-old American is on course to do what Ian 'Thorpedo' Thorpe was expected to achieve in Athens in 2004. Will Beijing crown a new swimming legend?

Phelps has already become the most successful Olympian now with a total tally of 10 individual golds. (Perspective: India has a sum total of 9 Olympic Golds so far)

Jason Lezak's 'Its the Olympics - Go for it' moment

American swimmer Jason Lezak said, "When I saw the last 50 metres and I saw he (Frenchman Alain Bernard) was far ahead, I thought: 'no way'. Then I thought: 'That's ridiculous, this is an Olympic Games. You have to go for it.' This was all in the space of five seconds - I went from 'can't do it' to 'can do it' to 'done it.'"

32-year-old US swimmer Jason Lezak churned out an incredible swim of 46.06 seconds to help US win the men's swimming relay and prop up Michael Phelps' bid for a world record 8 Olympic golds. The US team of Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Lezak shaved off almost four seconds from the previous world record winning gold in 3min 08.24.

Olympic Gold Lustre for India, Finally!!!

25-year-old Abhinav Bindra cracked the Olympic Gold puzzle for India becoming the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics. Though India has won eight hockey golds at the world's largest sporting regatta, it only has a handful of individual medals: bronze for Leander Paes (1996), K Jadhav (1952); Karnam Malleshwari (2000) and silver for Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (2004).

Bindra, who looked in shock, during the presentation ceremony, later quipped, "It doesn't get better than this, does it?". He can afford to joke now, 4 years after being savaged for failing to fulfill the promise he showed as a child prodigy. Though he created a new world record at the 2004 Athens Olympics, people chose to judge him on his failure to win a medal. Such was the extent of expectations from this bespectacled soft-spoken youngster who won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2002 and the Arjuna Award in 2001.

This youngster has an entrepreneurial head on his shoulders: Bindra is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics, a PC games peripherals distributor based in Chandigarh.

There will be a lot of people who will now claim to have had a hand in fashioning the young man's success. But this Olympic Gold is Abhinav's and his alone. Cherish it, young man! Today, you are the toast of a nation hungry for sporting success. May we talk of you long into the years.