Basking in reflected glory

With the curtain falling on the Rio Olympic 2016, competing nations and participants are taking their stocks. The people in Bangladesh hardly have any expectation from the greatest sporting show on this planet. It is all because in the global context, sports and games -except cricket which is not included in Olympic, here are miles behind the standard at the highest level. But this time, people here has found a compelling reason to express their anguish over something, they consider, they have missed sorely.
What have they missed? It is none other than the Olympic all-round champion rhythmic gymnast, Margarita Mamun. His father Abdullah Al Mamun hails from Durgapur in Rajshahi. What causes many avid sports followers great remorse is that the girl loves Bangladesh and even came to Bangladesh and participated on this country's behalf in the junior championship in Germany. His father brought her here with the hope that his daughter represented Bangladesh on the world stage.
As a permanent citizen of Russia living with his Russian wife, a former rhythmic gymnast, Mamun could concentrate on his daughter's better orientation in gymnastics in Russia. But perhaps a lifelong love for the country created an urge in him to bring her daughter here. But then the father and daughter left for Russia disappointed. The sports administration here did not patronise the raw talent.
However it was a blessing in disguise. Whether we admit it or not, the fact is that sports facilities and infrastructure here are next to nothing. Particularly her discipline is alien to most people and even sports aficionados. The extensive training, practice and care that go into making such a champion sportswoman cannot be thought of in Bangladesh.
So those who rue over the missed chances should as well accept the reality that Margarita, now called by her Russian co-gymnasts as "Bengal Tigress", would not have come to be what she is now. It is better to bask in the reflected glory of a girl who has devoted her feat to both Russia and Bangladesh. She has recognised her inalienable link to a country where her father was born. A part of her life will always be woven with the map of this country.
Now her case is a pointer to the fact that countries such as Bangladesh and India are lagging behind other nations in sports and games for reasons of lack of facilities. A Bangalee girl Deepa Karmakar from Assam is a shining example of talents soils in this part of the world produce. The girl became fourth in the most dangerous discipline of gymnastics -vault. There is a movement called Produnova vault, or the vault of death, which few gymnasts in the world dare perform. Deepa has done it quite perfectly.
Sporting talents go waste in such countries because of absence of required infrastructure and patronage. Deepa has struck a chord when she made the observation that studies are not all, equally important are sports and games. Deepa's feat is quite an encouragement for girls who want to take to gymnastics and other sports. Another Bangalee youth Atanu Das also qualified for semi-final in archery. He had brilliant scores in his qualification rounds to his credit. Had he been able to maintain the standard later on, he would have won top spots in archery. Perhaps it was nerve that got the better of the boy when he competed with his more fancied rivals.
Now overcoming nerves is what matters most in sports. Shooter Asif beat Abhinav Bindra in Commonwealth games but in the Beijing Olympic Bindra went on to win the gold whereas embroiled in some nasty incidents in the shooting range the greatest prospect of Bangladesh lost his way in the wilderness. All because, countries in this part of the world do not know how to tend and nurture talent. People here do not respect and love from the core of heart their greatest treasures. They are fond of cheap shows and entertainment.
Sweat and tears are the components of great feats in sports and games. Those do not come on their own. Institutional shape has to be given to sporting disciplines in order to bring the best in sportsmen and sportswomen. This also calls for investment. Are the government ready to invest large amounts in sports? Also there is need for visionary administrators in sporting arena who think big and for the future -ahead of their time. Only then sports and games will start elevating to higher levels and talents will be able to translate their inborn gifts to reality in sporting arenas.