Pakistani Writer: Don’t Expect Any Olympic Medal

Pakistani sports writer Alam Zeb Safi isn’t optimistic that Pakistan will win any medals in Beijing:

For those Pakistanis who are anxious to learn about Pakistan’s chances of winning medals in the Beijing Olympiad which would be held from August 8 to 24, I would like to say that they should keep their expectations down regarding medals because of the precarious condition of sports in the country.

Why the pessimism? Apparently, Pakistan has not been investing in Olympic sports as it used to. Alam Zeb Safi on Pakistan’s past Olympic achievements and how it failed to build on them:

So far, out of ten Olympic medals Pakistan have claimed in the Olympiad history, hockey has a lion share of eight medals which includes three gold, three silver and two bronze. For the first time in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Pakistan claimed a silver medal under the captaincy of Abdul Hameed, followed by gold in 1960 Rome Olympics, silver in 1964 Tokyo Olympics, gold in 1968 Mexico Olympics, silver in 1972 Munich Olympics, bronze in 1976 Montreal (Canada) Olympics, gold in 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and a bronze medal in the 1992 Barcelona (Spain) Olympics. But since 1992 Pakistan have been unable to win any medal in this inspiring event.

Apart from hockey, boxing was considered a potentially glorious sport and Pakistani boxer Syed Hussain Shah was the boxer who had claimed a bronze medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. But now like hockey this game too is fading away as it proved this year when Pakistani boxers failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in history.

If we go into the records of the Olympic medals of Pakistan, wrestling has a share in it, and it happened in the 1960 Rome Olympics, when Mohammad Bashir won bronze medal for Pakistan, making the country proud for grabbing two medals as Pakistan had also grabbed gold in the hockey event in those Olympics under the leadership of Abdul Hameed.

You can read the whole article here. By the way, the above photo is of Pakistani boxer Mehrullah following his defeat to his Cuban opponent during the 2004 Athens Olympics.

PHOTO CREDIT: BBC.