Golden Girls

Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose, Ashwini Chidananda Akkunji and Mandeep Kaur were not exactly household names in India until recently. Neither were Krishna Punia, Harwant Kaur, and Seema Antil. But their performances in the just concluded Commonwealth Games have changed that.

For many people like me, the CWG were not that big a deal. The sporting super powers of the world are not present in these games, and some of the superstars from the Commonwealth countries decided to stay away due to well publicised reasons. Therefore the competition was somewhat limited, and therefore my interest in the games was fairly lukewarm. Until a friend sent me this video clip of the 4x400 women's relay that Manjeet and team won in fabulous fashion.

I watched the video, and ended up with tears in my eyes. I wondered why.

The fact that we had not won a track and field gold medal even in the Commonwealth Games since Milkha Singh in the 60's shows how far behind we are in these sports. Lack of infrastructure, incompetent sports federations, lack of good coaches & trainers, and many other factors contribute to us being so far behind in this area. Even limited success at the highest level is the result of incredible tenacity and personal sacrifice. And the challenges are multiplied many-fold if you are a young girl from a middle class family trying to excel in a sport.

As I watched the video, I could not take my eyes off the screen and at the back of my mind were all the challenges these girls must have overcome to be where they are today. Even though I knew the result I could feel an adrenalin rush inside me, to egg them on to cross the finish line first.

I hope these Golden Girls are harbingers of change in Indian sport and society.