An Ode

This is for the six people who gave me goosebumps with their performances and valor in London. This is for those special sportsmen and women who have defied the mediocrity that Indian sports in general is and have shone as beacons to this country short of true heroes. And this is for their families, coaches and sparring partners who would not even bask in reflected glory having played such an important role in making India proud.

Sushil Kumar. You beauty. 66kg of unadulterated muscle doesn't come close to the determination that those eyes showed. You now have two individual medals to boast at the Olympics and the fight that you showed at the ExCEL arena is stuff of legend. Going by your words, you are not done yet, and may Rio complete your metal collection. You rock.

Vijay Kumar. Your pistol spoke for you and it did that in some style. Your composure over two days and specially in the finals belied the torment that might have been going through your mind. You may be a subedar in rank but a general would have been proud of your ways. Hoping that there is much more to come from your unshakable hands.

Saina Nehwal. Saina vs China was the war song that every one cried before you landed in London. And thats exactly how it transpired. You stood up to the best and emerged better. Your fleet footedness and finesse have made sure, badminton captures the imagination of many more in the years to come. Go baby go and make sure you go a step further at Rio.

Mary Kom. You are not magnificent "Mary" for nothing. Your hands packed a punch and when your twins grow big enough to realize what you have achieved, it would be poetic justice for your undeterred struggle and pain. You jumped a weight category but that didn't stop you from getting back what you promised. Can anyone claim to be more "Indian" than you are?

Yogeshwar Dutt. You fought an injury and followed your dream. You fought five times in succession and made sure the repechage was yours. The swollen eye was a better memento than the bronze that sat so well on your proud chest. Your technique heralded a new golden age for Indian wrestlers and your broad shoulders carried the weight of all our expectations better than we expected.

Gagan Narang. A gold would have been a fitting follow up to Abhinav's shot at Beijing but with the shooting standards going through the roof, a bronze is well worth its weight in gold. You shot like a man possessed and slayed the demons that blighted you in Athens and Beijing. You say your collection is now complete but surely the Indian contingent wouldn't have been complete without you. Eye of the tiger mate.

A mention of Joydeep who missed the bronze by a bit and the boxers, specially Devendro who showed what a dynamite can achieve. You fought valiantly and came close to etching your names in Indian sports history but you didn't miss making a mark in our hearts.

The Report Card

With the summer games at their fag end, it's time to look at the hits and misses in London. Pay obeisance to the ones who became first among equals and dissect the no show of some celebrated names. By far most athletes did what they were expected to do. One low light has been the relative reduction in the number of world records set in the track and field events but I guess the balmy evenings in the English capital may have something to do with it. 

Here are the gladiators who came to London2012 with a reputation and did no harm to it.

Usain Bolt. I am legend. He would now agree to that with probably the rest of the world. An Olympic double at both the 100m and 200m sprints with world records in both events at the World Championships is a surreal achievement. Would he do it again in Rio? I am not sure but his name would be the first to figure in most lists featuring Olympic greats. Feats like that with an attitude to entertain come together once in a score of lifetimes and seeing Bolt run and waltz is a joy few else could give.

Michael Phelps. He became the most decorated Olympian. The mark of 22 medals with 18 golds is not going to be over taken in a hurry and the man from Baltimore has now achieved the status of god in the Olympic pantheons. He started slow losing out on a medal in the 400m individual medley and the USA losing out on the 4X100m relay to France but bounced back with individual golds in the 200m individual medley and the 100m butterfly. A glorious retired life awaits.

Kimberly Rhode. She won the women's skeet at the Royal Artillery Barracks to win an individual medal at five different Olympics (she started off with a gold at the double trap at the 1996 games). She becomes the only American athlete to do so and joins a select band of athletes to achieve the feat world wide. Thy name is longevity.

David Rudisha ran an unbelievable 800m final to shave off 0.1s off his own world record. It being the first and probably only world record to be broken at these Olympics. The silver being almost a second behind him. He is well on his way to become a legend and his wish to race Usain Bolt in the 4X400m may just come true sooner than later.

Chris Hoy sprinted to two gold medals in track cycling to take his total to 6 golds and total 7 medals becoming the most successful British Olympian of all time. The MBE is just desserts for one of the best sprint cyclists the world has seen and carrying the British flag at the opening ceremony was the icing before the cake.

The Venus sisters came to London on the back of Serena's success at Wimbledon and didn't disappoint with Serena repeating her success and the sisters bagging the doubles gold. They now have three doubles golds, the first one coming in the 2000 games. You don't need to look further than these two to exemplify dominance.

And then there were some who couldn't live upto the hype they brought before competing.

Elena Isinbaeva. The defending champion in the women's pole vault could only manage a bronze. Her career may well be over and this aberration will rankle in what was an other wise glittering span of achievement.

Zhu Quinan. The Chinese shooter seems to be on the wane. He couldn't qualify for the finals of his favorite 10m air rifle event and missed out on another medal after storming to the 3 positions final. 

Stephanie Rice landed three golds at Beijing but couldn't get a single medal at London. She may have been the big mommy to the budding poolers in the Aussie team but better was expected.

Finally, the London Olympics logo deserves a mention for not making a mark on the minds of billions of watchers around the world. Probably a more vibrant one would have made the cut.

Bolting into history

The second fastest time in history and the 100m title defended, Bolt showed us who the boss is when it comes to the real business. Talent reigned supreme last night and the "beast" will have to wait another four years to see if he can get his name on the gold. Age is on his side and with his work ethic, the dream is not dead yet. The 200m is still up for grabs and a repeat performance by Usain there would just fortify his legend. Will he be able to defend the remaining two titles as well? The 4X100 m is a given but the 200m not so. An encore would certainly put him along side Carl Lewis in the annals of athletic history.

Lin Dan cemented himself as the greatest ever with another heart breaking victory over Lee Chong Wei. It was an epic final and Wei would have harbored strong dreams of going one better after the Beijing defeat. Not to be. Dont know if the ankle held him back but toppling the great Lin proved to be just a bit too difficult. I am sure none of these great proponents of Badminton would be around for Rio but they leave a legacy to be proud of.

Andy avenged his SW19 loss to Roger on the same center court with a dominant victory to claim gold. Federer wont be around for 2016 and his dreams of a golden slam now stay lay shattered. Gettting one over the world number 1 in a best of five sets match on grass would certainly do the Brit a world of good and the US open should be the slam where he breaks his un-enviable grand slam duck. The swiss maestro said he was happy with the silver but we all know how true that is. On the women's side, Serena got the US two golds, one indivvidually and another in tandem with Venus. She just looks unbeatable on grass.

An unheralded Vijay Kumar hit silver in the 25m rapid fire pistol and showed what a low profile build up can achieve when the much hyped hockey weilders went from one abyss to another deeper. Guess time has come to relegate hockey to the dust bin in the country and spend those monies on another sport.



How BADminton is that!

Nobody wants to play the Chinese. Not even the Chinese themselves. And nobody wants to win. What transpired yesterday at the Wembley arena was probably a first for the sport of shuttles and racquets and be sure it wasn't a pleasant first. Four women pairs getting disqualified because none of them wanted to win a match. I would admit that it would take some talent and skill to lose a match when the other side is going hammer and tongs into the net. While the scene should fit quite well in comic block buster, it isn't the same when played out in front of a sporting crowd at the Olympics. With round robin being the format of choice, teams or players throwing matches to get a favorable knock out draw was never a distant possibility. The spectre of this fiasco is not going away easily. What does the IOC do to avoid this friction between professional sport and the Olympic spirit? For one, avoid the round robin format as far as possible and when it is used, make sure the relevant qualifying matches are played at the same time to deter players from indulging in brinkmanship. Just hope some harsh lessons are learnt with this ignominy.

Michael Phelps kept his date with destiny climbing atop the heap of the most decorated Olympians. Whether he is the greatest Olympian ever is a question that may not have a unanimous answer but he certainly has built a strong case for himself. He still has a couple of events to go before he walks into the sunset and he wouldn't mind a little icing on the cake.

The 16 year old Chinese sensation Ye Shiwen has set the pool on fire with golds in the 400m and 200m individual medleys. She even swam the last 50m freestyle in a time faster than her male counterpart Ryan Lochte. She has been flooded with doping allegations and though she has cleared the dope test, performances like this will always be looked at with a crooked eye. The fight between the makers of performance enhancing drugs and the anti doping agencies is like the one between hackers and anti virus makers and we all know who leads the way.

A word for Saina and Kashyap who both marched into the quarters of the individual badminton events yesterday. What they showed the rest of the country (and especially the hockey team) is that its a combination of skill and perseverance that shines at the top level. Not tall words. May their tribe increase.