Why India Won't Be Competing at Sochi

[88m3]

By Joshua Keating

India's Aanchal Thakur skis during the first run of the women's slalom at the 2013 Ski World Championships in Schladming, Austria, on Feb. 16, 2013.
Photo by Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images

When the athletes march into the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics next month, one flag you won’t be seeing is the green, white, and saffron of India. Four Indian skiers will be participating in the games as independent athletes, but they won’t be able to formally represent their country, since the Indian Olympic Association has been suspended by the International Olympic Committee since 2012.*

The suspension was due to the IOA’s plans to hold an election for its leadership that would have been contested by just one official, who had spent 11 months in custody on corruption charges linked to the scandal-plagued 2010 Commonwealth Games. Frankly, given the reports that have been coming out about the host of this year’s games, the IOC—not a body known for its unimpeachable record on ethics—could probably cut India some slack here.

India’s absence is unlikely to be felt in a major way in the medal count: The country has never won a Winter Olympic medal. Overall, the world’s second-most-populous country and 10th-largest economy is one of the great underperformers of Olympic history, having taken home just 26 medals in 31 Olympics, fewer than North Korea or Slovakia.

A number of factors may contribute to this, including a lack of sports infrastructure, economic underdevelopment over much of the country’s history, and the fact that it’s always been democratic: Communist countries traditionally overperform at the Olympics. India also can’t help that cricket, overwhelmingly the country’s most popular sport, is not an Olympic event.

Things had seemed to be improving lately: India took home six medals in London, and billionaire Lakshmi Mittal has set up a program to put more money into sports training. But the Olympic suspension is unlikely to help increase the country’s haul in the future, particularly if it lasts through Rio.

*Correction, Jan. 22, 2014: This post originally misstated the year that the International Olympic Committee suspended the Indian Olympic Association. It also misstated the number of Olympics in which India has competed.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/01/22/why_india_won_t_be_competing_at_sochi.html

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Be an athlete in a corrupt country brehs

 

[yoyoyo1]

and here I thought it was cause there's no snow or ice.

 

[Blackking]

Those genetics in India seem pretty weak... or maybe it's lack of interest. All those people to select from and all that money and zero gold medals... barely any Olympic sport victories at all. That seems embarrassing.

You even have places like Jamaica and Kenya doing their thing.

I guess it really isn't fair that Cricket isn't an option, considering all the crazy 'sports' the do allow.

 

[Type Username Here]

Those genetics in India seem pretty weak... or maybe it's lack of interest. All those people to select from and all that money and zero gold medals... barely any Olympic sport victories at all. That seems embarrassing.

You even have places like Jamaica and Kenya doing their thing.

I guess it really isn't fair that Cricket isn't an option, considering all the crazy 'sports' the do allow.

I was actually thinking about this the other day about certain cultures/people and athletic ability. If it was a product of genes or interest.

 

[The Real]

The insane amount of corruption and nepotism that rules every part of the official Olympic athletics (and even the non-Olympic athletics) over there is the big hurdle. You got flabby and sick old heads staying in the game longer than necessary cause they're paid/paying/connected, committee members picking family to be on the teams, and a lot of the training budget being siphoned off by politicians and committee members.

Anyone remember how they built that bridge when they were supposed to host the Commonwealth Games, and the shyt literally collapsed months after it was finished? Or how they didn't even finish the athletes' village on time? Or how there were so many security flaws that athletes pulled out left and right our of fear of being killed in terrorist attacks? The cancer of corruption is way too deep for that country to produce anything like an Olympic level performance.

 

[Hiphoplives4eva]

A large majority of Indians are vegetarians and have small frames. They're diet precludes them from becoming competitive athletes. On the world stage.

LMAO at democracy being a reason why they aren't successful in the olympics...

 

[GetInTheTruck]

The only sport Indians care about is cricket, which they are pretty good at. They don't even fukk with soccer like that.

 

[bsmooth]

Something not mentioned in this article is that all India has to do to get reinstated is appoint a new head before the opening ceremonies but for some reason have decided to have the meeting in which they'll do that 2 days too late

 

[The Real]

A large majority of Indians are vegetarians and have small frames. They're diet precludes them from becoming competitive athletes. On the world stage.

LMAO at democracy being a reason why they aren't successful in the olympics...

The vast majority of Indians are not vegetarians, and the subcontinent is very genetically diverse. If you go the northwest, especially, you'll find that many of those people aren't small at all, and come from warrior cultures/societies where athleticism was practiced by the majority for generations. Ask yourself why the British Army and Special Forces still goes to random Indian villages in the Himalayas lookin for Gurkha children to take home and train, and why even the US military specifically employs them.

If you only go by those warrior groups, you still have a population that already is bigger than most countries, so diet/genetics can't be the main problem here.

 

[the cac mamba]

so a buncha swagless indians cant compete in the games

what a huge loss

 

[GetInTheTruck]

A large majority of Indians are vegetarians and have small frames. They're diet precludes them from becoming competitive athletes. On the world stage.

LMAO at democracy being a reason why they aren't successful in the olympics...

Lol most Indians are non vegetarians, where do think curry chicken comes from? Jamaica?

Indians are just into their own thing. They have their own movie stars, sports idols, etc. It has nothing to do with their diet, that's the stupidest shyt I've ever heard.

 

[Hiphoplives4eva]

I'm sorry, I was wrong with my initial post. Most Indians don't eat red meat. But many are also vegetarians as well. I know many Indians on a social and business level, and more often than not they are vegetarians. Again, not all, but meat is not a large component of the indian diet, especially red meat.

 

[GetInTheTruck]

I'm sorry, I was wrong with my initial post. Most Indians don't eat red meat. But many are also vegetarians as well. I know many Indians on a social and business level, and more often than not they are vegetarians. Again, not all, but meat is not a large component of the indian diet, especially red meat.

Most south Indians are vegetarians, most Indians from other parts of India, especially Muslims and non Brahmin Hindus are not vegetarians.

Chicken and goat curry, biriyani, kababs, mutton, keema, etc; have been staples of Indian cuisine since forever.

 

[The Real]

I'm sorry, I was wrong with my initial post. Most Indians don't eat red meat. But many are also vegetarians as well. I know many Indians on a social and business level, and more often than not they are vegetarians. Again, not all, but meat is not a large component of the indian diet, especially red meat.

This is true, but only if you leave out goat and mutton, which are eaten all over. Besides, you don't really need red meat to be an athlete. Most athletes, bodybuilders, etc. eat very little red meat. It's inefficient and not optimally healthy. Lean, white meat >>>