No Pakistani qualifies for Rio 2016 Olympics

[Perpendicular]

Full story at http://tribune.com.pk/story/1142241/pakistan-sport-hits-low-point-qualifying-debacle/

LAHORE, PAKISTAN: Pakistan’s sporting decline has left the vast South Asian nation that once prided itself on producing the world’s best hockey and squash players facing up to an Olympics for which none of its athletes have qualified.

While cricket remains a wildly popular game in Pakistan, a nation of almost 200 million people, most other sports have shrunk in popularity as the successes of the 1980s and early 1990s have become a distant memory.


In dilapidated gyms and crumbling sports fields Pakistani athletes lament the dated equipment and obsolete training methods which leave them struggling against foreign foes who adhere to the latest science-based techniques.

Female athletes have an even bigger mountain to climb: most young girls in the deeply conservative Muslim nation are pressured by their families to stop exercising in public, while those with family backing face the wrath of their communities.

“We are behind the rest of the world,” said Inam Butt, a Pakistani wrestling champion who won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. “Our budget, training and facilities are just nothing. How can we compete?”

 

[Paranoid Android]

Ye to gadbadd ho gya..

 

[Terminator]

No doubt this subcontinent has huge potential of producing world class athletes and sportsman. The problem is deep filth of corruption in the sports bodies and institution just like other government establishment. Perhaps Indian sports institution seems to be working on corruption and thus we see rise of Indians clinching more medals at international events.

Pakistan has same level of potential desperate to come out, unless it heavily cracks down on highly corrupt sports bodies.

 

[C130]

why doesn't Pakistani atheletes train in China??

they must have some of the best sporting facilities in the world.

 

[Rank]

daaaaaaaaaaaaaaandaliiiii hoi heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

[AlyxMS]

why doesn't Pakistani atheletes train in China??

they must have some of the best sporting facilities in the world.

Not really. National facilities are good but nothing fancy. The reason that China wins so many medals is more complicated than that.
It just happens that China has a population of 1.4 billion and picking a few dozen insanely talented ones from them is easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Besides that, athletes in some area(like ping pong) get trained by professionals as early as they were just old enough for school. With a decade or two of training, it is possible to have an edge over others despite the difference in body build between races.

 

[ghameed]

Not really. National facilities are good but nothing fancy. The reason that China wins so many medals is more complicated than that.
It just happens that China has a population of 1.4 billion and picking a few dozen insanely talented ones from them is easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Besides that, athletes in some area(like ping pong) get trained by professionals as early as they were just old enough for school. With a decade or two of training, it is possible to have an edge over others despite the difference in body build between races.

By your argument, India should also be right up there, well reality is that India lags way behind ...so it must be something to do with training and sports and infrastructure in China ..

 

[AlyxMS]

By your argument, India should also be right up there, well reality is that India lags way behind ...so it must be something to do with training and sports and infrastructure in China ..

I don't know about India.
Maybe India's sports program were not well funded enough?
Because having a giant population is an advantage, but it also takes massive amounts of resources to pick through them.

And yeah, training is definitely much more important then being talented.

 

[T-123456]

The problem in Pakistan and India is that there is no sports ''infrastructure'',they are only interested in the ''British'' sports.
Hockey,Cricket,Squash and?

 

[baajey]

Not really. National facilities are good but nothing fancy. The reason that China wins so many medals is more complicated than that.
It just happens that China has a population of 1.4 billion and picking a few dozen insanely talented ones from them is easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Besides that, athletes in some area(like ping pong) get trained by professionals as early as they were just old enough for school. With a decade or two of training, it is possible to have an edge over others despite the difference in body build between races.

if it were so easy, India would have been after China in the medal tally. Chinese should congratulated because of their sporting success. India needs to learn from that.
However, as @C130 pointed out, Pakistani athletes could take the advantage of Chinese facilities, however non-swanky. but i guess corruption and nepotism shall be the biggest hurdles.

 

[SpArK]

The problem in Pakistan and India is that there is no sports ''infrastructure'',they are only interested in the ''British'' sports.
Hockey,Cricket,Squash and?

Quite true.

No effort whatsoever to promote other sports or nor have the facilities to compete on another level.

 

[third eye]

The problem in Pakistan and India is that there is no sports ''infrastructure'',they are only interested in the ''British'' sports.
Hockey,Cricket,Squash and?

Very close to the truth.

 

[Kambojaric]

The problem in Pakistan and India is that there is no sports ''infrastructure'',they are only interested in the ''British'' sports.
Hockey,Cricket,Squash and?

Agreed. Our elte class preferred these sports practically non-existant in most of the world, and the middle and lower class gradually adopted these sports as well. Still in large parts of Pakistan such as Balochistan and I believe even in Gilgit Baltistan football enjoys a lot of popularity but the sporting authorities are based in cities like Karachi and Lahore, bastions of the elite.

However it is also partially cultural. For example in western countries like the UK practically no British Pakistani or British Indian players have broken through into the premier league despite a large numerical presence, primarily because our parents from a very early age discourage sports as a profession. The general mindset is "get educated and work as a doctor/lawyer/engineer". In contrast North Africans in France, or Turks in Germany have made it into the top divisions of their countries.

 

[T-123456]

Quite true.

No effort whatsoever to promote other sports or nor have the facilities to compete on another level.

You have Vijay Singh,could be a Golf medal.

Agreed. Our elte class preferred these sports practically non-existant in most of the world, and the middle and lower class gradually adopted these sports as well. Still in large parts of Pakistan such as Balochistan and I believe even in Gilgit Baltistan football enjoys a lot of popularity but the sporting authorities are based in cities like Karachi and Lahore, bastions of the elite.

However it is also partially cultural. For example in western countries like the UK practically no British Pakistani or British Indian players have broken through into the premier league despite a large numerical presence, primarily because our parents from a very early age discourage sports as a profession. The general mindset is "get educated and work as a doctor/lawyer/engineer". In contrast North Africans in France, or Turks in Germany have made it into the top divisions of their countries.

What i dont understand is,why isnt there any private initiative from individuals(rich or middle class)?

 

[911]

Take a look at sports in Olympics 2016 and then think how many of them you have actually tried in your life or atleast someone you know has tried, you will get your answer. Plus training in each individual sports these days is so advanced that you can't expect any medal unless the country has generations of experience.