Road to Rio

It’s official now — the Indian women's hockey team will be seen in action at next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. This ends a 36-year wait. The Indian women last played at the Olympic Games in 1980. When India finished fifth at the Hockey World League Semifinals in Antwerp last month, they practically qualified for Rio. The top three teams at Antwerp were to qualify for the Olympics; but some of those teams also qualified as continental champions. This allowed India to also book their tickets to Rio. Olympics qualification had proven a task too arduous over the last eight Olympics. The Indian women have cracked the code for Rio, but the real challenge begins now.

 

India finished fourth at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, when women's hockey was introduced at the Olympic Games for the first time. Fourth place, which seems creditable, was devalued because the field had been weakened by the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics over the then USSR's invasion of Afghanistan. The Indian women are currently ranked 13th in the world. Of the 12 teams in the fray at Rio, India will probably be the 11th best, one better than Brazil. Rio beckons, and a realistic goal for them would be a finish in the top-10 there — a top-8 finish would be excellent.

 

 Eighth place may still not seem very impressive, but it’s a massive achievement. Lalita Babar finished eighth in the women's 3,000m steeplechase at the athletics World Championships in Beijing. This was the first time an Indian woman reached the final of a track and field event at the World Championships. Lalita broke the national record during the event. In the final, she knew a medal was out of her reach, but she boldly broke away from the pack in an effort to set a new personal best. Across the world on live TV, commentators speaking different languages hastily learnt to pronounce the name of the poor farmer's daughter. Coming up, Lalita didn't benefit from western standard infrastructure, coaching or sports science — eighth, thus, must feel like heaven.