No one gives two hoots about Indian gymnastics

In the Doordarshan era of the early '90s, a brand showed a gymnast perform various sets of routines in sync with a butter-laden toasted bread slice. The ad film almost made one believe, that they could perform such maneuvers just by consuming the product. In another such ad, a young boy is seen struggling to get a double pike right, on the vault. After failing a few times, he finally manages to land one correctly, only after he had a glass of the health drink. Mind you, there was no coach around, under whom all these failed attempts were being made, but only the mother in the stands, who was cheering for her ward.

For the unversed, 2011 saw the rise of two factions within the GFI. Such was the situation that the government had to de-recognize the body and its functioning. So till the time the in-fighting continued, there were no national championships, no tournaments, and sporadic national camps, which were just conducted a week before a major tournament. So while the gymnasts from across the world were getting stronger and competition-ready, there was no one in India who could take Ashish or others, to the next level. 

"In 2010 I had hit the peak of my form. Such was my level at that time, that I beat Feng Zhe of China, who won gold at the 2012 Olympics in parallel bars, to win my bronze at the Asian Games. In fact, the guy who came fifth was an all-around bronze medalist from the 2007 World Championship. The next year we had all the qualifiers for the 2012 Olympics, and I had a great chance to qualify too. But I missed out on the chance in the World Championship, for direct qualification. We did have the option of a wildcard entry, but the federation didn't do much for it and was later awarded to a Bangladeshi gymnast. Had we taken some initiative, I would have gone to the London Games," Ashish told machi.bet an exclusive interaction. 

"It gave a sense that people around you were trying to pull you down, that too when you were in contention for a medal. That is a very lonely place to be in, and that's where I've been ever since, as far as gymnastics is concerned," Ashish continued. 

Not only the people at the helm made it tough for him but also weren't there when he needed them the most. Ashish suffered five career-threatening injuries, but not even once was he offered help. If that is the treatment meted out to the top gymnast in the country, just imagine the plight of the not-so-established ones or the upcoming ones. But that is not what Ashish wanted. All he desired was to get some competitions under his belt while coming back from the injury. He was denied that too. "In 2017, I had wrist surgery, that pushed me back once again in my career. I was undone by the federation, as after the surgery I wanted to compete in the World Championship, just to get a competition under my belt. I wrote a letter for the same but was denied a chance. This is when a team of five could be sent, but we chose to send only three players. 

This is just one aspect of the murky tale. The other is, the need and want to control things, by the ones at the top. It was sometime in 2009 that well-known coach, Vladimir Chertkov was roped in, keeping an eye on the future. And the coach delivered instant success at the CWG and the Asian Games. But soon the relationship between the coach and the authorities soured, to a point where Chertkov was allegedly threatened by an SAI official, of an arrest, if he came back to India. All this was just a few months prior to the London Olympics where Indian gymnasts actually had a decent chance to qualify. "He told me (the official), I dare not come back to India or he will have me arrested at the airport," Chertkov had told a daily upon his feud with the official. And this wasn't the only feud between the coach and the official. Rightly so, the coach never returned. In 2014, another foreign coach Jim Holt was appointed, but his stay was short-lived as well. He too, soon after arriving in India, got fed up with the way sport was managed here, and departed soon. Since then, Indian gymnastics has never been the same.

While the issue of lack of coaches was always there, now what haunts Indian gymnastics, even more, is their quality, right from the grassroots level. One of India's most reputed coaches, who was part of the national coaching setup during Chertkov's tenure as well, Praveen Sharma aptly highlights all the shortcomings in the system. The veteran is currently a mentor of the Gymnastics Academy in Delhi, and talking to him gives a sense, how hopeless coaching in the SAI centers across India is.  

To think that India can't produce quality gymnasts would be a false statement to make. If a certain Mohini Bhardwaj of Indian origin can win an Olympics silver for Team USA in 2004 and have a move named after her (the Bhardwaj on uneven bars), why can't it happen to an Indian gymnast? The simple answer is the system there is in place, which can either make or break a gymnast. It is only fair to say that the type of coaching an average gymnast at the junior level receives in the US, is far superior to what India's top gymnasts have access to. 

"What happens abroad is that they have a fixed pattern of coaching, and they judge the children on basic things, which have practically zero difficulty level. In short, 'India mein basics theek nahi hai'." 

To gauge how much difference good coaching and ordinary coaching can make, let's keep Bhardwaj and her coaches as the benchmark. She trained under the likes of Chris Waller, Galina Marinova, Valorie Kondos Field, and Rita Brown, who are few of the most qualified coaches in the US. After missing the Olympics qualification marginally in 1996 and 2000, the gymnast came back stronger and made it to the team in 2004. It goes without saying, the immense role her coaches would have played in her rise all through those years.  

"It all started in 1990, where around 150 kids from circus families were invited for the trials, and from them, around 75 were selected. Honestly, we had never heard of gymnastics before, but the SAI had advertised well in the papers and made sure the message reached out to the circus families in the area. And interestingly, after the selection into the academy, there were a lot of physical and other scientific tests done on us, just to find out if our bodies were suitable for gymnastics. All these were conducted in the aegis of foreign experts. We had the best equipment from the USA. The first time I entered the gym, it felt like I was in some foreign land.

"But I think the biggest problem that we faced was with the coaches in place. There was only one permanent coach and another who would be there on a temporary basis. So despite our training, I think we were headed nowhere. Then another reason was, Kerala didn't have any culture of gymnastics. Since only the circus kids were preferred under the scheme, we didn't have adequate competition also. For the longest of time, we kids didn't know why we were training in gymnastics. There weren't any tournaments either. In hindsight, I can say that despite planning the scheme so well, it wasn't executed properly, in gymnastics," recalls Shinoj.

Most of the mess that prevails in Indian gymnastics today, started during the period of 2011-2020, only due to the absence of an apex body for the sport in the country. It was only in 2021 that the GFI was recognised again, and allowed to function properly. Despite this, the question still looms large, whether the federation can finally work for the betterment of the sport? At the end of the year, the GFI's work will be reviewed, just like all other federations in the country, and a call over their future will be taken, but till then, there is no certain answer to, what holds in store for gymnastics in India. The gymnasts, coaches, and the officials here have a lot of catching up to do, and a year's good work, if at all, won't suffice. The efforts will have to come in constantly from the top brass, just to keep our players only competition ready. Winning a medal at the Olympics is still a far-fetched dream.