Sports and the Indian states
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The contribution of the various states
Asian Games 1982 vis-à-vis 2018
From: More states producing Asian Games medal winners than ever before, September 4, 2018: The Times of India
Every medal tells a human story of grit and glory. But each medal, when located in a specific place and time, also reveals the way sports has evolved in a society. A close look at the state-wise distribution of India’s 69 medals at the just-concluded Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games reveals two heartening aspects to the record haul: One, more states are producing medal winners than ever before. Two, new sporting superpowers have emerged among the states.
India’s 69 medals in 2018 were claimed by 184 medalists. That’s because victory in a team sport like hockey adds only one medal to the tally but the number of players who receive the medals is higher. Similarly, in 1982, India got 13 gold, 19 silver and 25 bronze, totalling 57, but the actual number of medalists was 130.
2018: Commonwealth and Asian Games
September 3, 2018: The Indian Express
From: September 3, 2018: The Indian Express
From: September 3, 2018: The Indian Express
Asian Games 2018: Haryana biggest contributor to medal tally
Haryana topped the national medal charts again in India’s record Asian Games haul, but compared to the Commonwealth Games, the representation was wider with medallists coming from as many as 21 states, six more than the CWG.
India finished the Asian Games with their best-ever medal haul in the continental event with 69 medals – 15 gold, 24 silver and 30 bronze. This ensured India bettered their medal count from 2010 Guangzhou Games and matched the gold medal haul of the inaugural 1951 Asian Games. Haryana topped the national medal charts again in India’s record Asian Games haul, but compared to the Commonwealth Games, the representation was wider with medallists coming from as many as 21 states, six more than the CWG.
Behind the numbers
India's state-wise contribution to the Asian Games Haryana contributed with 18 medals to India’s 69 medals at the Asian Games in Indonesia. (Source: IndianExpress.com)
- The total on the map is bigger than India’s haul of 15 gold, 24 silver and 30 bronze as individuals winning team medals have been added separately to arrive at the state-wise tally.
- Like in the CWG, Haryana contributed the highest number of medals. Boxing, wrestling and weightlifting fetched India only five medals whereas at the CWG, they collectively gathered 30.
- Athletics provided the biggest chunk of medals (19) — the corresponding number was 3 in Gold Coast. Contrastingly, shooters could manage 9, as opposed to 19 at CWG.
Asian Games 2018 vs Commonwealth Games 2018
Haryana excels in contribution to the #CWG2018 medal tally for India. MP, J&K, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand with no contributions
India had amassed 66 medals at the Commonwealth Games with Haryana contributing 22 medals then. Then, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand had failed to contribute to the medal haul. At the Asian Games, J&K, Himachal won one bronze; Madhya Pradesh a silver and two bronze; Odisha three silver and a bronze; Jharkhand two silvers while Chhatisgarh and Uttarakhand once again had no medals to add.
2021: Members of India’s Olympic squad
Hindol Basu, July 21, 2021: The Times of India
Athletes from Haryana and Punjab are once again leading the way for the country at the Olympics. The two states, with just 4.4% share of India’s population, have together sent 50 athletes to the Tokyo Games, accounting for 40% of the Indian contingent.
Haryana has 31 athletes in the contingent, nearly 25% of the total, while Punjab has 19. Tamil Nadu comes next, having sent 11 athletes to Tokyo, 8.7% of the contingent. Others in the top five are Kerala and UP – each with 8 athletes.
Uttar Pradesh, which is nearly 17% of India’s total population, is contributing 6.3% of the country’s Tokyo Olympics contingent, while Kerala with a population share of 2.6% percent has a representation of 6.3% in the Olympics squad.
For Haryana, nine of 19 women hockey players, seven wrestlers (four women, three men), four boxers (three men, one woman) and four shooters (two women, two men) make up most of the numbers.
Cash awards announced by states
2021 Olympics
Hindol Basu, July 23, 2021: The Times of India
From: Hindol Basu, July 23, 2021: The Times of India
Indian athletes competing at the Olympics can earn big cash awards by winning Olympic medals this time. The cash awards announced by various state governments along with the Union government’s cash award policy will make Indian medal winners the most rewarded athletes in the world.
The financial gains Indian medalwinners will garner is far more than what major nations like the United States, hosts Japan, Canada, Germany, Australia, France, Italy, Russia, the Netherlands, Brazil and South Africa have announced for their medal-winning athletes.
Besides India, the top-5 nations giving cash bonuses for medals are: Indonesia ($746,000, Rs 5.55cr), Singapore ($735,000, Rs 5.47cr), Hong Kong ($644,000, Rs 4.80cr), Thailand ($309,300, Rs 2.30cr), Kazakhstan ($250,000, Rs 1.86cr). All amounts are for gold medals. The figures for silver and bronze medal winners follow a similar trend.
In India, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Chandigarh (administration) have already announced a cash bonus of Rs 6 crore for athletes from their state who win gold medal at the Olympics.
While Haryana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh have announced Rs 4 crore and Rs 2.5 crore for their silver and bronze winners, Chandigarh and UP are will give Rs 4 crore and Rs 2 crore for silver and bronze.
Besides the individual state government’s cash awards, according to the Indian government policy (as of March11, 2020), an Olympics gold winner will get Rs 75 lakh. The silver medallist gets Rs 50 lakh and bronze winner Rs 30 lakh. The Union government’s cash award scheme is also more than what the major Olympic nations are giving to their medal-winning athletes.
TOI did some number crunching and found out that USA is giving $37,500 (Rs 28 lakh) to its gold winners. Hosts Japan $45,200 (Rs 34 lakh), Russia $61,000 (Rs 45 lakh), France $65,000 (Rs 48 lakh), Germany $22,000 (Rs 16 lakh), Canada $16,000 (Rs 12 lakh), Australia $15,100 (Rs 11 lakh), Netherlands $35,400 (Rs 26 lakh), Brazil $47,500 (Rs 35 lakh) and South Africa $37,000 (Rs 27.5 lakh) to the gold medallists. Only Italy $212,400 (Rs 1.58cr) has a sizeable amount kept for their gold medallists.
Great Britain, Norway and Sweden do not pay Olympians for their medals. The government does, however, assign about $160 million of funds per year to Olympic and Paralympic sports, some of which goes to annual athlete training and stipends. Athletes can receive an annual stipend of around $36,000. Britain’s view is that financial rewards do not significantly impact the motivation of an athlete to reach the Olympic podium.
Among other Indian states, Karnataka and Gujarat have announced a cash amount of Rs 5 crore to their players for winning gold. Players from Delhi will be rewarded Rs 3 crore for winning gold, Rs 2 crore for winning silver and Rs 1 crore for bronze.
