By Irineu Gonsalves.

THE INDIAN contingent with Anju Bobby George as flag-bearer made a good impression, the men looking dignified in their immaculate navy blue Jodhpuris, matching trousers and saffron saafaas, the women in elegant multi-coloured silk saris.

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore finished second in the men’s double trap shooting event and brought cheers to the gloomy Indian camp. An army major who fought suring the militant insurgency in Kashmir valley, brought India its first ever individual Olympic silver medal. Rathore bettered the three individual bronze won for India by wrestler (Khashaba Jadhav in 1952 at the Helsinki Olympics, tennis player Leander Paes in 1996 at Atlanta and women’s weightlifter Karnam Malles-wari in 2000 at Sydney). India expects a couple of medals as the competition advances. In the meantime here are some tales from the Olympics.

MUNICH, 100m
A minor error can sometimes snuff out four hard years of training for an Olympic gold. Americans Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson were, with Soviet Valery Jorzov, the hot favourites for the 100m title. Hart and Robinson, along with Robert Taylor, were walking casually towards the stadium when their attention was drawn by the ABC TV monitor showing a 100m race about to begin. Robinson asked the technicians whether it was a recording. The telecast was live, he was told. To his horror, he realized it was the race he was to run. The three athletes were bundled into a car and driven post-haste to the stadium. But the Games were already over for Hart and Robinson – Taylor managed to run and ultimately won a silver.

BERLIN, 100m
Adolf Hitler, contrary to legend, did not snub Jesse Owens. The Fuhrer never did meet him. It was two other black athletes, Cornelius Johnson and David Albritton, who were insulted. Owens’, own President, Franklin Roosevelt, ignored his great achievement. The star was never invited to Roosevelt’s White House, nor did he get a congratulatory message.

MONTREAL, 800m
Dive Wottle, who won the event wearing his trademark old cap, was the centre of an unusual controversy. Overcome by emotion, the athlete forgot to remove his headgear when the Star Spangled Banner was being played. He was instantly accused of staging a protest which American athletes had made so fashionable at the Games. Upset and tearful, the Air Force man then made a formal apology to the American people.

HELSINKI, 1500m
The British were rooting for a young medical student named Roger Bannister to win the event. Bannister, who was prepared for a two-race schedule, was unnerved by a semi-final inserted abruptly into the programme. It was too strenuous and Bannister could only manage a lack-lustre fourth place. Two years later, he ran the first four-minute mile in history. He never did win an Olympic medal though, having retired from competition thereafter.

TOKYO, JAVELIN
Elvira Ozolina was not only the defending Olympic champion, but also the reigning world record holder when she arrived in the Japanese capital. Her performance was dismal: she fouled repeatedly and ended up fifth. Humiliated, she rushed to a barber and shaved off her hair. She refused to hide her baldness with a scarf as an act of atonement for her ineffectual showing.

LONDON, BANTAMWEIGHT
The slightest excess of adipose tissue can be lethal for a boxer at a weigh-in. Arnold Pares had his hair cut off, was rubbed down with a towel, had his soles scrubbed. His weight reduced by a fraction, but the Argentinian pugilist couldn’t still make the grade. Until it was discovered that the scales were faulty.

MEXICO, MIDDLEWEIGHT
Chris Finnegan’s case has been documented excessively. The British boxer won the gold but was unable to produce the required urine for the mandatory drugs test. With the Olympics hawks looking on, Finnegan couldn’t pee. Several glasses of water and beer were consumed. The hawks went along for a victory meal. Hours after the slugfest, he finally provided the necessary sample. In Finnegan’s wake came Munich 1500m bronze medallist Rodney Dixon and LA 400m meddle champ Alex Baumann. The new Zealander who could only offer a tiny amount, asked a stern German official if that was enough. Pat came the answer: “For a gold, no. For a bronze, yes!” In the American swimmer’s case, he couldn’t meet journalists for a couple of hours because he was tied up with the pee problem. What added to Olympic officials’ hassles was the discovery in the midst of a third beer, that Bauman was underage for alcohol.

LOS ANGELES, SWIMMING
How Canadian swimmer Anne Ottenbrite survived to swim to LA remains a mystery. Having lived through collisions with a glass window and a potato processor, she dislocated her kneecap showing off a pair of shoes three months before the Olympics. The Canadians entered her for the 200m breaststroke in any case. In LA, she injured her neck in an automobile accident. Then strained a thigh muscle playing a video game, during the Olympics itself. Despite all this she made it to the winner’s podium.

TOKYO, VOLLEYBALL
The Japanese won the gold all right, but the world was shocked by coach Hirofum Daimatsu’s methods. He used to beat his wards on the head, kick them in the hips, insult and taunt them. And make them practice six hours a day, seven days a week, 51 weeks a year. Nobel laureate and Japanese premier Eisaku Sato, moved by captain Masae Kasai’s plight, played Cupid and got her married. Daimatsu went on to greater honour, even becoming a Japanese MP.

ROME, BOXING
How ephemeral Olympian glory can be, Cassius Clay will tell you. The boxer pranced around with his gold medal, refusing to take it off. Reality intervened. When a friend and he visited a restaurant, they were told to get out. It was for whites only. Clay naively showed off his medal, but was forced to leave by the owner and the local Hell’s Angels. The motorcycle gang’s leaders followed the hero and pal to enforce Anglo-Saxon superiority. A bloody duel ensued. The whites beat a retreat, but the victor was shell-shocked. His Olympian honeymoon was over. He removed the medal for the first time since it was hung around his neck at the victory ceremony and hurled it into the Ohio river.

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