Our Olympic champions deserve all the credit

Iremember it as clearly as if it happened yesterday. But it was nearly 50 years ago. The curtain had come down on the last performance of Peter Shaffer’s, The Royal Hunt of the Sun. I played the part of Atahualpa, the defeated Inca King. For the Stowe school audience, the novelty of a brown Indian acting as a Red Indian was the cause of much ribaldry. My mates gathered backstage were attracted, no doubt, by the feathers in my hair. But when photographs were taken, they crowded me out. That’s when Bob Drayson, the headmaster, spoke out.

“Surely the young man you’ve come to congratulate should be at the centre?” he asked. “You’re grabbing the limelight instead!”

That’s exactly what happened when our Olympic heroes returned last week. No doubt the highest in the land were among the first to applaud them, but the way they did it suggested that they wanted the attention on themselves.

Consider, for example, the prime minister (PM)’S phone call to the bronzemedal winning hockey team. Both sides spoke on mobiles with the speakers switched on. That was the first surprise. But what really caught my attention — and it can’t possibly have missed yours — is there was a camera in Delhi filming the PM speaking to the team and another in Tokyo filming the team replying to him.

That couldn’t have happened unless it was specifically arranged. After all, it’s not usual for people to be filmed talking on the phone. Not unless they want it. In fact, it was particularly surprising to see the hockey team being filmed while replying. Clearly, this was done with a purpose.

It became crystal clear when the footage from both ends was adroitly joined and made available to television channels. Thus, a congratulatory phone call to applaud the hockey team transformed into a story about the PM. When it was broadcast, he became the centre of attention. The team and its laurels were reduced to the opportunity that allowed us to witness the great leader’s warmth and large-heartedness. So, are you surprised Drayson’s admonition came leaping back to mind?

Now, I’m certain PMS all over the world congratulated their medal winners. But I don’t know of a single other case where it was meticulously and deliberately filmed. Boris Johnson and Joe Biden, or Xi Jinping and Yoshihide Suga would have been overjoyed. Their teams, after all, made it to the top four. But they didn’t make an event out of it. Doesn’t that reflect the veracity of Drayson’s wise words?

Initially, this was just an amusing little item. However, the night the team returned, it became a matter of greater concern. That happened at the Ashoka Hotel reception to welcome them home.

Remember, the team was the cynosure of all eyes. They were the reason we were watching. Yet, they were dwarfed — not just metamorphically but even literally — by enormous photographs of the PM. There were, at least, three. So no matter where you were seated in the hall or from whichever angle the TV cameras filmed the event, the leader’s large bearded visage was the first thing you saw.

As if that wasn’t enough, each of the three ministers who spoke made a point of praising the PM — for the facilities he made available, for his encouragement and vision and, indeed, for the new India he’s created. If it hadn’t been for him, they seemed to suggest, we might not have won any medals. The credit goes to him.

Now, governments all over the world go out of their way to help their Olympians. It’s expected of them. But is it fitting to claim credit when you’re felicitating the actual winners?

I wonder what Drayson would have said? He had a gift for the mot juste. Perhaps he might have said the backseat is often the best place for the top man. Or he could have muttered sotto voce the quest for publicity can be the undoing of PMS.