100 days to go for Tokyo 2020: COVID a great leveller but India in good space, feels gold-winning Baskaran
Moscow 1980 Indian hockey captain V Baskaran says India can win record medals. Star long jumper Anju Bobby George feels lack of competitions could hurt.
With just 100 days to go for the Tokyo Olympics, preparations have entered its final stretch.
Though the raging COVID-19 pandemic has made life difficult for everyone, the athletes, coaches and authorities are ensuring that they are prepared to give their best when Tokyo 2020 gets underway on July 23.
And according to the Olympic gold medal-winning hockey captain Vasudevan Baskaran, India is ready for the challenge.
“I think India is the best prepared at least among the Asian countries, if not the world,” Baskaran told the Olympic Channel.
“We are counting on about 125-plus athletes competing at the Games. And the best part of it is we can expect more medals from the contingent this time. So far, our medal count has remained in single digits at every Olympics. But this time I think we can make it to double digits. I am hoping for that.
Archery is doing well, the shooters are up to the mark, there’s always hope from badminton, then there’s wrestling and the men’s hockey team. I have my bet on the table tennis mixed doubles.
“And then there are a few other disciplines where we can see a few surprises. Especially with North Korea pulling out we can expect our athletes to pounce on the opportunity.”
With the Summer Games pushed by a year, one of the pertinent questions is if the athletes can peak again before the now-delayed Olympics?
But V Baskaran, who led the Indian hockey team to a gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, doesn’t see it as a concern.
“It would have been difficult if the Games were to be held in the November-December period,” Baskaran reckoned. “But now everyone’s had about a year to recalibrate.
“This (COVID-19) is something that’s affected life across the world, it’s not just in India or some select parts of the world. Moreover, we have been able to tackle it well.”
However, Anju Bobby George, India’s only medal winner at the World Athletics Championships, was worried that the lack of competitions in the build-up to the Games could hamper some.
“I don’t think it’s very difficult to peak again when you have an entire year to go through the cycle. But most athletes peak through competitions. Fifty per cent of it is your training and the rest is the way you compete. That’s something that worries me now,” Anju told the Olympic Channel.
“The guys are training well, but there are doubts on the competitions that they can compete in to peak before the Games. It’s a difficult task, but that’s what the athletes have to make do with now. We might have a situation where the athletes will head to the Games directly.”
Given the pandemic situation around the world, the Tokyo Games will be held without any overseas spectators.
I think the organising committee of the Games has done the right thing by not allowing international spectators for Tokyo 2020,” Baskaran said.
“Now you will have around 10,000-11,000 athletes and a few hundred officials. Yes, it will be different in some sense. But the players have to adapt. COVID-19 is such an illness that it can affect even the fittest of athletes. We need to be very careful.”
Meanwhile, Anju Bobby George chose to see a silver lining for the Indians in such a testing situation.
“I think it’s the athletes from Europe and the USA who will be affected much by this. I believe our athletes are used to it given that most of our domestic meets happen in front of empty stands even under normal conditions,” Anju explained.
“You take any competition in the west, the stadium is usually crowded. So, it will be a change for the guys who are coming from that part of the world. I don’t know if the guys have experienced something like this before. Well, we are used to this,” Anju, who also serves as the senior vice-president of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) concluded.