Ten athletes representing the world’s fifth most populous nation – ten representing a population of over 220 million? Pakistan’s Olympic deficit is truly mindboggling.
What is even more mindboggling, the nation woke up to this deficit in the middle of Tokyo 2020 (still so named although taking place in 2021) thanks chiefly to the heroics of a Gujranwala lad came within an inch of winning a medal.
Pakistan’s saving grace at Tokyo 2020, Talha Talib, the first Pakistani weightlifter to show up at Olympic Games since 1976, was an invitation entry in the men’s 67 kg category.
Pakistani sports fans will never forget 25 July 2021, the day when this virtual unknown from the city of wrestlers held the gold medal spot in the 67 kg category until the final round, when he was eliminated from the podium.
The only training Talha received was with his father in his old school as he did not had the funds to go to a gym. His steadfast determination and a stroke of luck landed Talha at Tokyo in Pakistan colours.
“Talib’s lift of 151kg in Snatch category was the second-best of the round”. “He failed in his first Clean & Jerk attempt of 166kg and even though he was successful for the same weight in his next attempt and also cleared 170kg later, his combined total of 320 was surpassed by others, including Zani, who lifted just 2kg more than Talib.
“For a little while during Clean & Jerk, he was in the lead, giving his growing number of fans back home a glimmer of hope.” It mattered little that he finished fifth in the end. His plucky performance won him instant fame and admiration of the Pakistani Twitterati, with many wondering what he could have achieved given proper training and resources.
People took to social media to vent their disappointment. The country that produced legends like Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan, and the best hockey team. Furious, they asked if it was a systemic issue or has sports talent indeed become so scarce in Pakistan.
Some pointed out rather pointedly that Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) hadn’t organised a single camp for weightlifters in last three years; that Talha wasn’t provided any special training program even after his qualification; and that he was attending Tokyo 2020 without a coach because president of Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWF) had availed the slot for himself to be at the Games. The 2020 Games see the introduction of new competitions including 3×3 Basketball, freestyle BMX, mixed events in a number of sports, and the return of Madison cycling, baseball and softball. Under new IOC policies, which allow the host organizing committee to add new sports to the Olympic Program to augment the permanent core events, these Games saw karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding make their Olympic debuts.
In a controversy surrounding the Games, for the first time ever director of the opening ceremony was sacked over an insensitive joke made in the past. Kentaro Kobayashi, a popular entertainer, was dismissed after a 1998 video clip resurfaced online of a skit in which he was seen joking about a game he called “let’s play massacre the Jews”, prompting laughter in the audience.
In 1940 Winter Olympic games were supposed to happen in Japan. Due to outbreak of war between Japan and China, Japan stepped back and did not host the event. In 1944 the event was scheduled in London. Even though there was an ongoing war, the Germans allowed the prisoners to stage the event, though it was unofficial. The event happened as it was IOC’s 50th anniversary.
Japan is on top in Tokyo Olympic 2020 with 8 Gold medals, 2 silver and 3 bronze. USA is in second number with 7 Gold, 3 Silver and 4 bronze medals. China is on number 3 with 6 Gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals. Despite being on number three, China has the most number of medals combined in Tokyo Olympics 2020. This is the first time an iteration of the Olympic Games has been postponed and rescheduled, although the Games have been cancelled three times in the past. However, the event retains the Tokyo 2020 name for marketing and branding purposes despite taking place in 2021.
