Picture this. You’re sitting at the edge of your seat. Your heart feels like it’s about to jump out through your shirt and create a mess on the floor. You’re almost sweating, anxiously anticipating what comes next. One second you’re shouting encouragement and the next, you’re muttering disappointed disapprovals.
It’s like something has tied a hook around your heart, like someone’s playing chords with your nerves. You go from one emotion to another in minutes, but one thing stays constant: the thrill of it.
You’re watching a sports game. Any sports game. And it is this feeling, this very feeling that binds us to the world of sports. Even those who aren’t really supporting a team, even those who don’t quite know the rules, even those who can barely name the players - everyone, regardless, has felt the familiar rush of it.
Our previous blog looked at the festival of Onam, and this one wishes to carry the legacy of a rich culture forward, too - in another way.
Since sports involves teams and very often entire countries, it brings you closer to your sense of community and gives you something to put your faith in. Communities are built on commonality, and supporting the same sports team is one more commonality through which we often identify ourselves.
We are reminded, then, of sports’ power to build a sense of solidarity, especially with the 2024 Paris Olympics. Controversy upon controversy this year made the Olympics so much more than just sports or games. We learned, this year, that sports (and almost every form of entertainment) is linked, irrevocably, to sociopolitical issues and skewed power dynamics.
It isn’t just a game, or merely a source of entertainment anymore.
But it is still - and it always will be - in the very nature of sports to connect us to our people.
This does, of course, come back to the concept of patriotism, and a shared culture and history that binds us to our fellow citizens and that we carry into everything we do.
To name just an example of what the 2024 Olympics looked like for India - when Vinesh Phogat was disqualified, every other Instagram story seemed to protest on her behalf. It brought people from different backgrounds together on social media, which says a lot about the power sports have on society.
Our spirits were crushed often this year. Several athletes narrowly missed out on medals - including badminton star Lakshya Sen and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu.
Yet, in the spirit of sports - we must celebrate our wins just as much as we mourn our losses.
After bagging a silver medal in the men’s javelin throw, Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian athlete to win both a gold and a silver at the Olympics.
Manu Bhaker made history by becoming the first woman from India to secure an Olympic medal in shooting. Sarabjot Singh and Manu Bhaker also claimed bronze in the 10m air pistol mixed team event, defeating South Korea.
The Indian Men’s hockey team repeated their Tokyo success by beating Spain, securing a bronze medal with a score of 2-1.
Aman Sehrawat, a 21-year-old wrestler, became India’s youngest Olympic medalist by bagging a bronze in wrestling.
Moreover, India bagged 29 medals in the Paralympics, marking a significant milestone in our sporting history. While most of the spotlight is given to the Olympics, the Paralympics stand as exceptional reminders of the potential of people with disabilities. They help to raise awareness and inspire others to overcome adversity. It is crucial, thus, to remember the contribution, talent, and hard work of Indian para-athletes. India has seen its best performance of all time at the 2024 Paralympics with an astounding tally of 29 medals including 7 gold, 9 silver, and 13 bronze medalists.
The 2024 Olympics reminded us - especially by showing us that sports can build solidarity amongst communities - that we’ve carried here with us an intricate history. Instead of stifling under the weight of it, or letting it dictate everything we do, we must learn only to recognize its importance in shaping our society and us as individuals because...
To know where we want to go, we must first know where we come from.
Amidst all the chaos surrounding our lives right now, we don’t just consume entertainment with the wish to escape. We turn on the TV in the hopes of finding something to look forward to, as well as someone to look up to. We turn to our screens so that they may hold up a lens to society as we know it. And the Paris Olympics 2024 did just that.
- Pia Oza,
Volunteer, Editorial Committee
Beautifully written! I loved the opening lineš„¹✨✨
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