India is gradually coming to level terms with European countries when it comes to sports data, technology and support, but is still lacking at the junior and grassroots levels as it aims to climb higher on the medals table at Olympic Games, according to three of the country’s top sporting icons.

India sent a record 117-member squad to the 2024 Paris Olympics and won six medals (1 silver, 5 bronze), along with as many fourth-place finishes. Three years earlier at Tokyo, the country got seven podium finishes, including 1 gold and 2 silver medals. But scratch a little deeper, and India’s growth story runs deeper than what the Paris tally suggests. In the Paralympics that followed, India grabbed 29 medals, the highest in the country’s history.

Speaking at the 22nd Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Paris medallists PR Sreejesh, Sumit Antil, and Swapnil Kusale reinforced the need to bolster grassroots development and talent-spotting for India to reach the next level –– particularly at a time when India has thrown its hat in the ring to host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2036.

“In terms of data analysis and technology, we are at par with the Europeans. We don’t lack anything at the elite level, but the problem lies at the grassroots where things are not up to the mark. We need to start making a difference at the under-14 and under-16 levels where talent can be moulded the right way. That’s the reason behind the success of Australians and Europeans,” Sreejesh, the inspirational goalkeeper who fired India to consecutive bronze medals in hockey at Tokyo and Paris Olympics, said in a conversation moderated by HT’s national sports editor Ashish Magotra.

Drawing from their rich experience and pedigree, the three athletes also underlined the changing mindset of elite Indian athletes, noting the changing aspiration –– from dreaming of being an Olympian to thinking of winning Olympic medals.

“Earlier, we would be happy with the tag of being an Olympian, but now, most athletes target the gold medal. Personally, I aim to be world’s best each time I compete,” said Antil, who won back-to-back javelin gold medals at the Paralympics in Tokyo and Paris.

Rifle shooter Swapnil Kusale, who won a bronze medal in the 50m 3P event in Paris, also emphasised on the need for Indian athletes to get mentally stronger. “Skill-wise, I don’t think Indians are too far behind [in shooting]. We win a lot at the junior level and even at the senior World Cups, but Olympics are a different beast. The fact that so many of us finished just short of medals in a way indicates the need to get mentally tougher,” the 29-year-old from Kolhapur said.

Sreejesh, who is gradually transitioning into the coaching role, said India has the financial and technological wherewithal to host the Games, but said the real question was how is it going to help our athletes, and how many medals will they be able to win.

“Are we capable of participating in each event? We have our strengths in hockey, athletics, shooting, boxing, and wrestling, but what about sports such as gymnastics and swimming that offer so many medals? Hosting the Games is easy but winning the medals will be a tougher task. If we host the Olympics but barely get into double digits on the medal tally, it won’t be nice,” said the retired 36-year-old who was adjudged Goalkeeper of the Year by FIH –– his third such honour –– earlier this month.

Antil, a serial world record-breaker, concurred. He was a budding wrestler when a road accident changed his life, but the 26-year-old found recourse in para sports.

“It could have been very easy for me to give up on life but sports gave me a reason to live. We need to take sports to the people to help them understand its transformative powers,” Antil said, who won gold in the F64 javelin event in Paris with a Games record effort of 70.59m.

“If we want to be at the top of medal tally, we need to compete in new sports. Participating in a handful of sports won’t help. Javelin, for example, will give you only one medal. But if we start competing in swimming, the chances of bagging a handful of methods from one event alone will shoot up,” he said.

Kusale, who broke new ground by winning an Olympic medal in an event that has traditionally been one of India’s weak links, believes that shooting is one sport in which it is already possible to win multiple medals but the competition for spots in the India team is fierce.

“Getting into the Indian team is anything but easy. In almost every national championships, we are seeing a big increase in the number of participants and it tells us a lot about the popularity of shooting. There are over 5,000 athletes in rifle and more than 6,000 in pistol now and it must be said that their level is already very decent. But, they need guidance to get to the next level. The mind trainers need to work with them from an early stage to prepare them for the world level,” said Kusale.

Antil also laid the onus on the wider population to foster a sports culture in the country. “We need to ask ourselves, how many parents bring their kids to the national championships?” he said. “We need to motivate kids to look at sports as a viable career option if we want to win on the global stage.”