Dimapur, August 5 : With the Olympic Games opening at Rio on Saturday, it is certain to recall some household names in Nagaland’s sporting circle. Because we all grew up in a generation where the best archer of these lands went to the London Olympics in 2012.
And because, we all grew up awed and fascinated by the tales and exploits of a certain barefooted football player from Nagaland who captained the first Indian Olympic football team at the 1948 Olympic Games at London.
Nagaland has produced two Olympians so far – late Dr Talimeren Ao and Chekrovolu Swuro – certified giants by any measure today. As the Rio Olympics makes begins on Saturday, Eastern Mirror recounts the exploits of our two Olympians.
Dr Talimeren Ao (1918-1998)
Late Dr Talimeren Ao was not just the first Naga Olympian but also the first captain of India’s National Football Team in 1948 during the Olympic Games in London. The Indians were lucky enough to go through without any proper selection or qualification to play in the Olympic. Dr T Ao led the historic match in London where team India narrowly suffered defeat against France, in the first match that caught the attention of the entire world. They continued to play five more international games before leaving London after the Olympics.
A journalist during the 1948 games is said to have asked T. Ao why he did not wear football boots. His reply was: “Because it’s football, not bootball.”
Maybe, the biggest frustration in Ao’s career came when the Indian team were not allowed to take part in the next World Cup because they were playing barefooted; hence it prevented Ao from leading India in another international platform.
In the year 1943, T Ao joined Mohun Bagan through his old friend Sarat Das. He was introduced into the Mohun Bagan squad as a defender. His skills didn’t go unnoticed by the coach and very soon enough he became the captain of Mohun Bagan. Thus in 1948 he was asked to join the Indian national team, where he was again the unanimous choice for captain.
Dr. Talimeran Ao was born on 28 January 1918 in Nagaland to the Rev. Subongwati Ningdangri Ao and his wife Maongsangla Changkilari, in the village of Changki, Mokokchung district. He was the fourth of eleven children.
Chekrovolu Swuro (age 34)
After a long gap of 64 years, Chekrovolu Swuro became the second Naga Olympian and the first Naga woman to represent Nagaland in Olympics. She represented India at the London Olympic Games in 2012. She not only played Women’s Individual and but also participated for Team Archery at the London Olympic Games. Even though they crash out the Olympics in the first round, Swuro immediately became a hero in Nagaland, an inspiration for many youngsters to follow their dreams.
The Indian women’s archery team with L Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari and Chekrovolu Swuro earned three quota places for the London Games and qualified for both team and individual events in the Olympics when they won a silver medal at the 46th World Archery Championship in Turin, Italy in July 2011.
Chekrovolu Swuro had qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics but was dropped from the Indian archery squad for reasons that remain sketchy to this day. Swuro started her career as an archer at the age of 16, inspired by her elder sister Vesuzolu, who also was a prominent archer herself.
She was awarded with the Arjuna Award in 2013 (The highest national recognition for outstanding performance in Sports and Games in the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Cup, World Championship disciplines and Cricket).
Swuro is from Dzulha village of Phek district in Nagaland. She started her professional career in sports in 1999 participating in the Asian Grand Prix at Bangkok. She now serves as Deputy Superintendent of police (DSP) in the Nagaland Armed Police (NAP).
Today the question is, will there be another Olympian in the next decade? Even the minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Neikiesalie Kire, went on record saying that the state government has failed to acknowledge and give due credit to sportspersons who have achieved success at national levels.
Are we supposed to blame the government only? Hokaito Zhimomi, Nagaland’s first export to Indian cricket, in his article in Wisden India wrote: “People in Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram are very fit and athletic. But it’s all seasonal here. People here believe in studying and then getting government jobs. Development hasn’t happened in Nagaland the same way it has happened in mainstream India. Youngsters love sports but don’t think of it as a career, because they don’t see a future.”
The challenge is to not just to encourage and groom young sportspersons. Equally important, if not more, is to convince the youths that there is a career in sports.
