Four years of blogging and the Olympics!

I started blogging 4 years ago the day Abhinav Bindra won the first individual gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. I was so happy that my country got a place at the medals tally with a gold medal that I wanted to do something, and I dared to step into blogging! The past 4 years I have blogged about a variety of things that touched my heart, and today I am writing this post as many Indian athletes have touched my heart and their achievements make me happy.

To start with, what a lovely way to mark the last day of Olympics 2012... wrestler Sushil Kumar scripted history in Indian sports by winning medals in 2 consecutive Olympics! My favourites, Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom created history too! I am sure these 2 women will continue to play exceedingly well and make us all proud for a long time to come! Parupalli Kashyap was such a surprise at the Olympics this time! If he continues to play like this then the day isn't far when he too will bag an Olympic medal too! Vijay Kumar, another unsung hero, got a sliver medal - how many of us knew him before he won the medal? Through the 2 weeks there were so many highs, many really disheartening moments, some really disappointing moments, but on the whole, India has done a pretty good job this time at the Olympics. 6 individual medals in 1 Olympics is definitely a fairly encouraging thought. Who knows we may double it up at Rio in 2016! 

London Olympics 2012

Olympics 2012  is just 10 days away, and how much do the Indians know about the Indian contingent who are going to paricipate at the London games? There has been bits and pieces in the newspapers about some of the participants for some time now, and suddenly, there are write-ups about quite a few of the participants in the past week or so. There is a little on television as well, thanks to the sponsors! But, the excitement that gets built during the IPL matches or the regular cricket matches or the European football tournaments, there's almost nothing for the Olympics, sad isn't it?

The tiff between Lee and Hesh made headlines for many days; hoping it is kinda sorted now! Wonder how will Sania Mirza perform at the Olympics! She is more of a star than a real player!

Last Olympics, at Beijing, some Indians made us hugely proud. Abhinav Bindra brought home the 1st individual gold medal!  Sushil Kumar and Vijender Singh's bronze medals did encourage many to take up boxing and wrestling! 

Over the 4 years I have come to know a little about a few sports people, like, Mary Kom, Krishna Poonia, Ngangbam Soniya Chanu and a few others.

India is particpating in 13 categories. I know about all the 6 badminton players and most of the boxers... wow! I can be quizzed on them; I completely admire Mary Kom! Some of the shooters, besides Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang, have become famous like Ronjan Singh and Sodhi Rahi Sarnobat. Among the ace archers brother-sister duo Rahul and Dola Banerjee, Dola will be missed! Do we know Garima Choudhary will represent Indian as only Indian judoka to qualify for the upcoming London Olympics. I didn't know what judoka was till a couple of weeks ago!

The Indian sports fraternity needs more support. There isn't much difference from the last Olympics till now. The Indian Government is so deeply immersed in scams and mismanagement  that there is no time left to concentrate on sports (other than cricket of course!). It is only because of some sports enthusiasts that there is a significant improvement in quality and facility in the past 4 years.

Through this post I am wishing Team India all the very best! My favourites are Saina Nehwal, Abhinav Bindra and Mary Kom, but I am going to cheer for everyone in the team. May the medals shower on the Indians at the London Olympics!