In most accounts of Olympic history across the world, India's Olympic journey is a mere footnote. This book is a corrective. Drawing on newly available and hitherto unused archival sources, it demonstrates that India was an important strategic outpost in the Olympic movement that started as a global phenomenon at the turn of the twentieth century. Among the questions the authors answer are: When and how did the Olympic ideology take root in India? Who were the early players and why did they appropriate Olympic sport to further their political ambitions? What explains India's eight consecutive gold medals in Olympic men’s hockey between 1928 and 1956 and what altered the situation drastically, so much so that the team failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Games? India and the Olympics also explores why the Indian elite became obsessed with the Olympic ideal at the turn of the twentieth century and how this obsession relates to India's quest for a national and international identity. It conclusively validates the contention that the essence of Olympism does not reside in medals won, records broken or television rights sold as ends in themselves. Particularly for India, the Olympic movement, including the relevant records and statistics, is important because it provides a unique prism to understand the complex evolution of modern Indian society.

As India gears up for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the country will focus once again on the moments of glory we have had on the largest sports arena in the world, featuring such stalwarts as Abhinav Bindra, Mary Kom and PV Sindhu. But it will also be time to ask again the question we ask ourselves every four years: why does a country of a billion plus have so little to show for itself at the Olympics?Dreams of a Billion gives the reader an inside view of what goes on backstage in the Indian Olympics world, alongside a quick history of how India has fared at the Olympics over the past century, and a look at how the Indian Olympics world has changed in the last decade. Which brings us to the question: How good is India's preparation for Tokyo 2020? Can Tokyo be the gamechanger Indian sport wants it to be and hopes it will be?

'A pioneering and long-awaited book ... a delightful read' -Hindustan Times 'The first detailed history of India's Olympic experience ... a valuable addition to contemporary knowledge'-India Today When and how did the Olympic movement take root in India? Who were the early players and why did they appropriate Olympic sport to further their political ambitions? In most accounts of Olympic history across the world, India's Olympic journey is a mere footnote. Olympics: The India Story sets that right. Drawing on previously unused archival sources, it demonstrates that India was an important strategic outpost in the Olympic family. It explores why the Indian elite became obsessed with the Olympic ideal at the turn of the twentieth century and how this relates to India's quest for a meaningful role on the international stage. First published to critical acclaim in 2008, this revised edition includes a new, incisive chapter on India's medal prospects at the London Olympics, thus bringing India's Olympic story up-to-date.

"This book will inspire the younger generation to be like our sporting heroes by helping them take up sports and make it a daily part of their life." Sakshi Malik, Bronze Medallist, Rio 2016 India at the Olympics celebrates 100 years of Indian athletes' participation in the world's biggest sporting event. Packed with rare images and colourful illustrations, this unique book: Traces the incredible history of the Olympics from the time of the Ancient Greek Olympics to its present, modern-day avatar Focuses on India's 100-year participation - its achievements and records Includes profiles of India's biggest sporting legends such as Dhyan Chand, PT Usha, Karnam Malleswari, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Mary Kom, Abhinav Bindra and Leander Paes among others. A visual treat for sports enthusiasts of all ages!

This is a cutting-edge text which responds to the increasing importance of sport policy and its relation to public investment.

Abhinav Bindra once shot 100 out of 100 in practice six times in a row and walked out of the range unhappy. He is a perfectionist who once soled his shoes with rubber from Ferrari tyres because he thought it would help. He would wake up at 3 am to practise at his range at home if an idea suddenly struck him. It is from such obsession that greatness arrives. Abhinav Bindra's journey to become the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold, and the first Indian to win a World Championship gold, is a story of single-minded passion. The Olympics has been an all-consuming journey for him ever since he was shattering beer bottles and glass ampoules in his garden in Chandigarh. No obstacle was too hard to overcome, no amount of practice too much, no experiment too futile and no defeat so severe that it made a comeback impossible. Shattered by his failure at the 2004 Athens Olympics when a gold medal seemed imminent, he changed as a shooter: from a boy who loved shooting, he became an athlete bent on redemption, a scientist who would try anything - from mapping his own brain to drinking yak milk to climbing rock walls - to win at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. His victory was not just a personal triumph, it was a gift to his nation, a breaking down of a sporting barrier that had stood for a century. Bindra's feat has taught his peers, and those yet to come, that an Olympic gold isn't an impossible dream. In ranges, on fields, in arenas, Indian athletes now own a new belief, they wear the knowledge that no challenge is beyond them. Helping to tell this remarkable story is sportswriter Rohit Brijnath, who collaborated with Bindra in producing this compelling autobigraphy of one of India's greatest sportsmen.

The Olympic Games is undoubtedly the greatest sporting event in the world, with over 200 countries competing for success. This important new study of the Olympics investigates why some countries are more successful than others. Which factors determine their failure or success? What is the relationship between these factors? And how can these factors be manipulated to influence a country’s performance in sport? This book addresses these questions and discusses the theoretical concepts that explain why national sporting success has become a policy priority around the globe. Danyel Reiche reassesses our understanding of success in sport and challenges the conventional explanations that population size and economic strength are the main determinants for a country’s Olympic achievements. He presents a theory of countries’ success and failure, based on detailed investigations of the relationships between a wide variety of factors that influence a country’s position in the Olympic medals table, including geography, ideology, policies such as focusing on medal promising sports, home advantage and the promotion of women. This book fills a long-standing gap in literature on the Olympics and will provide valuable insights for all students, scholars, policy makers and journalists interested in the Olympic Games and the wider relationship between sport, politics, and nationalism.