We need to be sporting nation overall and not just before the Olympics, states Sania Mirza

The Indian continent finished with seven medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was their best ever outing at the quadrennial event. Even in the Paralympics, the nation amassed a total of 17 medals – their best tally by quite some margin. But, the interest shown towards Olympic sports fades away after the event, which is a worrying sign as per Indian Tennis star Sania Mirza.

The six-time grand slam winner featured in the women’s doubles event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics alongside Ankita Raina. However, the pair was ousted in the opening round itself. Sania Mirza feels that India needs to be a sporting nation overall, in order to win more medals at the Olympics. She also added the schools need to encourage kids more, while a corporate structure also needs to come in.

“To get more medals, we need to be sporting nation overall, not just two weeks or one month before the Olympics. The way that we are and the way that we function, there has to be a change. Of course schools need to encourage kids more, a lot of corporate structure needs to come in,” said Sania Mirza, as reported by Hindustan Times.

In fact, this has been an issue that has been addressed several times in the past. Sania Mirza just stressed on the same, stating that every individual needs to develop a sporting mentality and treat it as a very important aspect of their lives. Only then can India win more medals at the Olympics.

“We need to make our mentality into a sporting mentality and believe that sports is a very important aspect of our life. It has to be incorporated and only then can we really expect to talk about sporting great nation and win a lot of medals at the Olympics,” added Sania Mirza.