'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.

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?

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.

'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.

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.

MISSION GOLD - India's Quest for Olympic Glory is a book for everyone who loves sports. This book searches for answers to those questions that revolve around India's Olympic affairs. Do you know India's Olympic history is as old as Japan's?So, where do these two Asian economic giants stand on the all-time Olympic performance list? Why does India fail in the Olympics? Or how much progress has India made in Olympic sports over the last 100 years? Or why does Olympic hockey's most successful team India fail to emulate its golden days?This book is backed by facts, history, insights and anecdotes, including that shared by athletes and coaches who continue to fight with issues that plagued Indian sports for years. Gloom and doom apart, we have heroes and glories to cherish and a bright future to look forward to. MISSION GOLD - India's Quest for Olympic Glory delves deep into India's Olympic affairs and answers questions that it raises. As you gently turn the pages, the sports that brought the country its Olympic glories will absorb your attention. This book is a well-researched work that decodes India's Olympic movement- the past, present and future and more. This is a book that gives you a detailed insight into pre-COVID era Indian sports. At the same time, it looks for answers to restart post-COVID sports activities. "Great effort... This book will surely motivate the young generation athletes." - Victor Amalraj, Former Skipper, Indian Football Team."I think it's a great book as it takes us through our country's continuous quest for Olympic gold ..... and also gives us great insight on how sports stars think and work - it's a must read for any avid sports fan and even has a great section on football." - Ranjit Bajaj, Founder of Minerva Academy and Owner of Delhi FC.