The Games were supposed to enhance India’s image as a rising power but shoddy construction, dirty accommodation and security fears have underlined governance and accountability issues in Asia’s third largest economy.
Indian athletes have shone through the negativity, however, and the team have so far won 20 golds, well on their way to beating their 2006 Melbourne Games tally of 22.
“What the athletes’ performance says is that despite the system, which is corruption- and nepotism-ridden, we can deliver at the individual level,” said Manish Kumar, who was watching the wrestling at the Indira Gandhi stadium on Friday.
“We feel proud that they are doing well and the world is taking note of it. We will go to the Asian Games (next month) and then the Olympics in two years on the back of this good performance.”
The country had hoped to use the Games, held every four years for 71 mostly former British colonies, to display its growing global economic and political influence, rivalling neighbor China which put on a spectacular Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Instead, the Games became a major embarrassment for the world’s largest democracy with officials struggling to ready filthy venues and the Games Village in time. Even halfway through the event glitches remain.
To make matters worse, authorities in Delhi, mindful of security threats as well as the city’s notorious traffic, asked local people to stay indoors, leaving the city devoid of a carnival atmosphere.
For millions of ordinary Indians watching the Games at stadiums or on state-run television stations, though, the focus has shifted to the competition.
“What will history remember? The medal winners. What will matter for us in the next Olympics? How many medals we win. So overall we have reasons to be happy,” said N. Bhaskara Rao of the Center for Media Studies, a Delhi-based think tank.
Shooting provided India’s first individual Olympic gold medal through Abhinav Bindra at the Beijing Games two years ago and the marksmen and women have driven the gold rush over the first half of the Games.
“People will eventually judge us, athletes, by our performance,” said Rajiv Bhatia, secretary of the National Rifle Association of India. “We are happy that we have been able to make our countrymen proud.”
The Games close on Oct. 14.
