Nadeem Arshad may not have the medal he had gone to Tokyo for, but the javelin thrower’s presence in the final of the event was in itself an achievement, which was acknowledged by his countrymen with such fervour, that it is mind-boggling to think of the adulation that might have been had he actually placed. At the same time, his story shows the problem with sport in our country. It is a comedown from the past, when the country’s medal hopes centred around the hockey team, but the decline of hockey should reveal why there is this wilderness for Pakistan in Tokyo.
One of the factors for the decline of hockey is the lack of grounds, of astroturfs, of equipment. The hockey organizers were mostly old players who had started with a stick and a ball, with stars in their eyes, and expected modern players to achieve in the same absence of facilities. Athletics, and other sports, suffer the same problem, and there is no history of world-beating to justify such optimism. A change of attitude is needed at the grassroots level. The purpose should not be to win an Olympic medal, but to run fast, or throw a javelin as far as possible. If enough children are doing this, the medals will come automatically. But proper facilities must be provided, and not just one in the country, but one in every college, indeed school, not so that medal hopefuls can be trained, but so that young people can enjoy themselves, and so that youthful energy can find a socially acceptable outlet. (It beats petty crime or experimenting with banned substances.)
This means making investments in an area where the government has tried to turn a blind eye in the past. There are multiple benefits of having a wide distribution of sporting facilities, but of particular importance to a country with increasing urbanization, it would mean a fitter populace in the cities, where the natural physical workouts of rural life are absent. Also, as Mr Ashraf’s own example showed, there are sports other than hockey or cricket.
