Only one week is left for the Paris Olympics 2024 to begin. The Sports Ministry of India has approved 117 athletes. People were surprised when the ministry decided to send more support staff than athletes. There are 72 support staff who are going to Paris at government expense. The ministry itself has given this information in a letter. This time there is nothing to worry about for any Indian fans, because these support staff are not going for fun but with the aim of creating a new record by winning more medals than the Tokyo Olympics.

Questions have been raised on more support staff

This is not the first time that more support staff than athletes are accompanying the Indian contingent to the Olympics. Questions have also been raised about this. Seeing 140 staff along with 117 athletes, it may seem that the officials are going on a foreign tour at government expense and will have a lot of fun in Paris. And why not, such cases have been seen many times before. However, this time it is not so, most of the staff in it are either coaches or specialists, who are really needed by the athletes.

How will the support staff make an impact?

There has been a lot of change in India's approach in the Paris Olympics. After a systematic investigation of all the support staff, it has been found that 85 percent of the 140 support staff are coaches, sports scientists, medical team and physiotherapists. Even mental conditioning coaches have been provided to these athletes. An attempt has been made to provide a coach to every athlete for good preparation for the Olympics. Shooter Manu Bhaker is the biggest example of this. She has trained under the supervision of coach Jaspas Rana for a long time. Earlier he was not approved, but now his presence in Paris can have a positive effect on Bhaker's preparation. She will be able to participate with more confidence than before.

Along with badminton head coach Pullela Gopichand, Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar have also been given permission to go to Paris. Here the question can be raised that when there is a head coach, what is the need for an extra coach, but not doing so could have been unfair to PV Sindhu and Gopichand. The reason for this is that in recent times, both of them have not trained together. At the same time, Sindhu has also been constantly telling how Prakash Padukone has brought a positive and big change in her game. Now with him being there, Sindhu will have every facility to win a medal.

Vinesh Phogat was affected in Rio Olympics

To understand all these support staff, we have to go to the 2016 Rio Olympics. At that time Vinesh Phogat was facing a Chinese wrestler in the quarterfinals. Vinesh was already leading 1-0, when she got injured. After this, all the Indian fans saw her crying in pain. There was no medical team present there as per her need. As a result, she kept fighting in pain and eventually had to face defeat. Lack of such necessary facilities has a very bad effect on the athletes.

Solving the clothing problem

Clothing was also a big problem for athletes in the Olympics. Athletes had to struggle a lot even for good jerseys. The Olympic jerseys were not even wearable at all, they used to get ruined in just one wash. However, since JSW became the clothing partner and Puma the footwear partner, all these problems have been solved and all these things have now become a thing of the past.

Sports scientists also play an important role

Sports scientists also play a role in the Olympics. It is true that a sports scientist cannot do wonders to an athlete with just a few months of training, but it is better late than never. Its effect will be seen gradually. In the end, the truth is that the coaches are going to Paris not for fun but to help the athletes. Out of 140, 120 athletes are directly needed, they will be in Paris to help them so that India can perform well there. The Indian Olympic Association and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) should definitely be praised for this. No one knows what will happen in the Paris Olympics, the answer to this will be found only with time. But with their presence, the preparation of the athletes will be good and India can definitely expect a good performance.