Curtain comes down on Rio 2016

We congratulate Brazil and the city of Rio as well as the IOC for successfully holding the world's largest quadrennial sporting event. The multi-sport extravaganza, held amidst concerns about terrorism and mismanagement, was organised beautifully, celebrating the bond of brotherhood and the triumph of sports over adversities with all its strands and hues. This is especially true for the participants of war-ravaged Syria and Iraq, where people live by the day, not sure of seeing the next morning.  The sportspersons from these nations live and train in the most despicable conditions, yet they have participated in Rio 2016 after qualifying in some team sports in their own right.  

As for team Bangladesh, it is time for some serious reflections. It is sad to note that we hold the unenviable title of being the world's most populous nation not to win any Olympics medal ever. Save for golf, all our Olympic participants were wild card entries. There is no denying that meeting international standards and challenging the big guns of world sports cannot be successfully achieved overnight, it demands time and planning. 

The enthusiasm generated by the winning performance of Bangladeshi-born Russian rhythmic gymnast Margarita Mamun demonstrates our thirst for Olympics glory, to the extent of owning up and relating to her success. 

We must not forget that in sports there is no substitute to hard work and perseverance. The thrust should be on holding age-based sporting competitions to glean talents at the district and divisional levels. The country's lone sports academy in Savar should go through a detail evaluation. On top it all, it is important to create a sporting culture; for that we need more playgrounds, good coaches and proper infrastructural facilities.