She is only 17, but has the world at her feet. Deepika Kumari is hailed universally as the rising star of the archery world. Right from the time when she became the world champion in the cadet section in 2009, the girl from Ranchi with a humble background, has been progressing at great pace so that she could be in the reckoning for an Olympic medal in the London Games in 2012. By her own admission, Deepika has been dreaming of the medal ceremony in London, as part of her mental preparation.
Dream big
It is not an empty dream. Deepika became the youth world champion this year in Legnica, Poland. She had captured the imagination of the Indian youth by winning the Commonwealth Games gold last year in Delhi when she beat the Athens Olympics bronze medallist Alison Williamson of Britain in the final. She was part of the Indian women's team that beat world and Olympic champion Korea on way to the silver in the world championship this season.
The Indian trio of Deepika, Bombayala Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro avenged the final defeat to Italy by beating it for the gold in the World Cup in Shanghai. Deepika's consistent performances on the world stage fetched a berth for her in the prestigious World Cup Final, and she reluctantly settled for the silver, as she lost the tie-shoot 8-9 in the final to Cheng Ming of China.
Determined
The focus will also be on two other youngsters, boxer Vikas Krishan and shooter Rahi Sarnobat, when India launches its campaign in the London Games. He may be a hero already, but the 19-year-old Vikas Krishan has many heroes in Indian sports. He emulated world champion wrestler Sushil Kumar, the Olympic bronze medallist, by winning a medal in the world championship. Vikas emulated another of his hero, boxer Dingko Singh, by winning the elusive gold in the Asian Games last year in Guangzhou. “I want to be like Abhinav Bindra,” said Vikas Krishan to a packed gathering, making it clear that he wants to emulate another of his heroes, by winning an Olympic gold. Aim for gold, and nothing less. Otherwise, Vikas would have attempted to just match boxer Vijender Singh, no less a hero in Indian sports to anyone, in going for a medal in world championship. It is another matter that he became only the second Indian after Vijender to win a world championship medal in boxing.
The 21-year-old Rahi Sarnobat may not be as accomplished as Deepika Kumari or Vikas Krishan, but on her day, she can beat the world. She had played second fiddle to Anisa Sayeed, in the Commonwealth Games at home in 2010, but in the World Cup in Fort Benning, she shot a phenomenal 207.7 in the 20-shot final to take the bronze medal in sport pistol, grabbing the Olympic quota in the process. It was only her second final at the world level. The girl from Kolhapur had shot 570 on way to the eighth place among juniors in sport pistol in the World Championship in Munich in 2010. She has been shooting world class scores upwards of 582 thereafter, though she fumbled to the 10th spot in the Asian Games with a 577. In a highly technical sport, in which a lot depends on the equipment and ammunition, Rahi is still trying to make the maximum of competent guidance. If anything, she is fearless and has the heart of a champion. If you rule out her chances on the basis of lack of experience, do so at your own peril.
Fact File
Every Olympic Games is an unforgettable experience of human excellence. The host countries have always tried to make it the ‘best ever', most of the time going a long way, beyond their means.The Chinese flexed their Economic muscle to put together a spectacle in the form of Beijing Games in 2008, at a cost of about $40 billion, setting a very high benchmark for future hosts.
The London Games scheduled to be staged, with the participation of 205 nations, from July 27 to August 12, has set out to be an exception, as it has avoided the race to be the best ever.
Quite shrewd, London attempts to capitalise on every cent count in a budget of about nine billion pounds. The organisers have not only focused on legacy, which will see 55,000 seats being dismantled from the main stadium and sent to the next host after the Games, but also ensured the involvement of everyone including school children, to make United Kingdom more vibrant as a sporting populace.More than 10,000 schools across UK have agreed to have the Olympic and Paralympic values included in their curriculum. As a token of appreciation, the organisers will provide 125,000 Olympic tickets to schools in London, and another 50,000 to school children in the rest of UK.
Achievers shared their experiences with school children to inspire them to ‘'aim high''. The tickets of the ‘test' events were priced as low as five pounds to ensure participation of the public.Of course, London will be all aglow with world class stadiums and related facilities, to meet exacting standards associated with hosting the greatest show on earth. Among others, there will be an Olympic park, spanning an area of 2.5 sq km. From cleaning one million cubic metres of soil, to desilting the river of 30,000 tonnes of gravel and other material, to pushing electric cables into underground tunnels stretching six kilometres, London has successfully met many challenges.When the Games open on July 27, it will do so with almost everyone in London ringing a bell, including cycle bells and door bells, for three minutes from 8 a.m., to express solidarity !
