I wrote this piece on a whim following Pakistan's poor performance in the Beijing Olympics 2008. I was in Hong Kong that summer and saw one equestrian event live. And Pakistan's inability to score medals hurt me very much. The piece went in as the main story in the Special Report section of The News. Sadly, little has changed in Pakistan's Olympics record since.
Most of us will remember the Olympics 2008, the spectacle, medals, internationalism and the reality that Pakistan came back home achievement-starved, yet again.
The fact that Pakistan is nowhere on the scene should not pinch you since, after all, we are a third world country, with scarce resources and other priorities. But wait a minute! Let's look at the 2004 Olympic medal count. Countries like Cuba, Iran, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Uzbekistan ended up with several medals including gold. Even India has taken a shooting gold. The fact that USA was number 1 and China was number 2 in 2004 should not be overlooked either, since China is still a third world developing country and the US defense budget has little to do with its Olympic performance. The economy and GDP of a country is separate from its Olympic performance.
The last time we won an Olympic medal was in 1992. We have never attained an individual gold medal, no athlete ever qualified and all entered through wild cards. Why is Pakistan still an Olympic dwarf? The most Unolympian of the Olympic nations?
Well firstly, Olympics performance requires years of practice, motivation, financing and infrastructure. And above all one has to be goal-oriented i.e. dedicated to the dream of winning a medal. Although the prime issue in Pakistani sports is money, it's still not the only issue. Behind every committed, striving Olympic medalist, there is at least one world-class coach, and behind him at least one big paycheck and a goal. No sport works without money and motivation.
Sports require infrastructure, starting from the grassroots level. If my college is the grassroots level, the sports scene is bleak. Those who don't end up on merit are admitted on sports basis and this means that participation is compulsory. New and talented players offer rivalry, since the old ones have been scorching in the heat already. There have been examples when a hockey ball is purposely not passed, with the argument in mind, why should we let her be the star when we have been playing for just as long? Very few girls in the college identify with, or realise the fact that sports will bring them good health, achievement, a better looking CV, travel opportunities and perhaps even a stipend. A performance in Olympics would transform their lives. But who is encouraging them, waiting to discover and polish their aptitude and turn it all into a profit? No one.
A common argument is that Pakistan 'excels' in sports that are not Olympic events like squash, polo, snooker and cricket. Well Spain has the Toreo (bullfighting) and China has Kung Fu, but rather than waiting (like Godot) for these to become Olympic events, these countries are producing world-class athletes in other sports, too. The Olympics have three hundred plus events and Pakistan enters only three or four each time.
Now, creating national level interest in a sport requires media coverage, funds and high standard performances to attract the public attention. If this had happened in Pakistan, sports like archery, canoeing, sailing, shooting and wrestling could have won Pakistan Olympic medals, along with generating income, bringing upward mobility and stardom to many youngsters in Pakistan. But rather then introducing new sports, the one Olympic sport Pakistan championed has slipped away from it. Sadly, Pakistan's Hockey team's lackluster qualification into the Olympics 2008 further publicised its thirst for better coaches and technology.
And a valid question is where is the ladies hockey team? Why couldn't the female hockey team qualify? A medal in a woman's event is equal to that of a man. Half of the Chinese and American Olympic medals are won by women. Flags raised high, countries made proud. Historically, no woman in Pakistan has ever qualified for the Olympics. Many African nations have produced athletic stars. Women from the oppressed minorities/communities of USA and elsewhere, like the African-Americans and Aborigines of Australia, have dominated the track.
Pakistan might be third world but the urban women in Pakistan have a fair chance in sports. Many thousand have entered colleges and the national work force already. Yet, simply because sportswomen are available, won't take Pakistan anywhere, till we target them as a viable sports resource.
Pakistan has a talent pool waiting to be polished. If a player does emerge, his plunge into poverty is ensured. Rather than getting sponsors and advertisements, he is left to yearn for even a stipend. In the Athens Olympics, a Pakistani athlete, Rubab, stated that her daily stipend was $30. This was enough to buy her some scoops of ice cream but not to hire a coach which she did privately. If starvation is guaranteed, no student will ever sacrifice his degree for sports.
Private sector sponsorship/funding remains a vital and imperative need in Pakistan, in the absence of any proper government organisation and initiatives; and though this has been somewhat more forthcoming of late (mostly in 'glamour sports' like cricket, polo and golf) it is still a long way from any regular, worthwhile investment in our quadrennial Olympic efforts.
The American Olympic team raised funds for itself by donations. Why can't the Pakistani team do so? Sports companies sponsor them with apparatus, designers design their uniform, the uniform is manufactured by garment companies (Ralph Lauren this time) and shoe companies compete for getting selected. Many participants are merely teenagers and students. All the above is an honour. Is all this impossible in Pakistan? Can the corporate sector not aid it? Maybe, we could get some of the big companies like Coke, Pepsi, Mobilink, Habib Bank etc, who already have a presence in supporting some sports, to actually take over one athlete, or a few athletes in different sports, preparing them for the next Olympics? An idea certainly worth considering.
One thing on which Pakistan missed out completely is that the Olympics mean 'income'. Sports stars generate profits, by attracting popularity, sponsors and talent pools. Cricket is an admired sport in Pakistan, and therefore its matches generate billions of dollars of profits. Imagine if there were ten or twenty such sports in Pakistan. Still, so far, no interest on part of the authorities, ministry and the government.
The problem of disinterest and lack of government responsibility is a serious one, really. Just because Pakistan is waging a war on terror doesn't mean that our sports, our everyday lives and small pleasures, go down the drain. There is very little allocation of funds, little incentive to increase it and presumably corruption and nepotism take their toll too. There is no fixed sports policy for sports development, talent identification and resource/capacity building. Most sports have no associations, clubs, trainers or trainees in Pakistan. Some of those that do have some organisation --for example, Boxing, in which we used to do quite well by the way -- seem to have been cast into the doldrums by our bureaucratic sports bosses.
Every sporty youngster and student need to ask the Ministry and the national Olympic Association what went wrong and demand a budget and plan for the next Olympics, to end this achievement deficiency.
Even the public indifference to sports has grown. Interest can be generated by media and educational institutes but for that the establishment has to work. There should be noticeable achievements and adequate financing.
It's not all the government's work. Clubs, trainers and trainees can be introduced privately or with help from sponsors. Colleges need to activate and encourage students. Pakistan cannot evolve into an Olympic success automatically; had that been possible, we would have had lots of achievers in the last sixty years. We have to plan, identify and train existing players and introduce more sports. Above all, as a nation, we have to build our individual and collective character; develop the will to strive, to fight against odds and win. If the Pakistanis don't wake up from their present slumber, this Olympic nightmare will go on endlessly.
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