Why India has miserably failed to increase its gold haul at Asian Games

In 36 years since the Delhi Games, India has increased its gold haul by just two -- pathetic when compared to other Asian nations

Even as India’s sports administration and certain ministers in the Modi government go about painting the town red over the Indian contingent's success at the recently concluded Asian Games in Indonesia, a more introspective approach to what unfolded at Jakarta might restore some semblance of sobriety.

A look at India’s performance over the years since 1982, when the country hosted its second Asian Games, would show that India has barely increased its tally of gold medals – the highest honour for the fastest, strongest and fittest sportspersons of any country in the world. In 1982, Indian athletes, exemplified by Charles Borromeo’s record-setting and trailblazing 800-metre run, bagged 13 gold medals. China, which was at the top of the medal tally in 1982, had bagged 62 gold medals. Japan, an economic powerhouse of the time had come second with 57 gold medals. South Korea had won 28 golds, while Iran and Indonesia had won four golds each. (See Graphic) 

More than three decades later, at the 2018 Asian Games, India won just two more gold medals than in 1982 and ended with a tally of 15 gold medals. China, meanwhile, bagged 132, more than doubling its gold tally since the Delhi games. Japan increased its gold tally by a third. South Korea increased its tally equally impressively, by 75 per cent. Indonesia, the host country of the 2018 edition, improved its tally from 1982 by more than seven times, while Iran bagged 20 golds in 2018 to enhance its tally over the Delhi games by five times.

India’s inability to go for the top honours has another peculiar trend. India’s gold haul at Indonesia was its best ever since the Delhi Games. Between 1986 Asian Games held at Seoul and the 1998 games at Bangkok, India failed to make even a double-digit gold medal haul. In 1990, at the games held in Beijing, India won just one gold medal, in Kabaddi – its worst-ever performance since the Delhi Games. It fared even worse than Pakistan, which it had till tehn been outperforming at sporting events over the years. China, the host nation, doubled its gold tally to 183 that year. India, given its huge population and economic growth since 1980s, seems to be an aberration when it comes to translating its demographic dividend into a gold medal windfall.

While there certainly is a correlation between a nation’s wealth and its sporting prowess, this doesn’t seem to be the case with India. In general richer nations do perform better at sports. Also, nations like China which became rich at a breakneck speed, ensured their sporting prowess grew along with economic power. While nations like China, Indonesia and Iran have increased their gold haul over the years as their per capita incomes have increased, India seems to have been stuck in a rut. As the following detailed illustration will demonstrate, there is little reason for the country to be blowing its own trumpet for an achievement that wouldn’t even qualify as being mediocre.