Talha has been trained by his father, Muhammad Islam Natiq, national weightlifting coach for Pakistan....
GROUND REALITY
The rise in popularity of weightlifter Talha Talib during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo is a story of determination and perseverance. Hailing from Gujranwala, the 21-year-old athlete almost tasted Olympic media glory but ended the competition in fifth place. Social media was abuzz when Talha was in the lead. Twitteratis were hopeful for the young man to return home with a medal. However, as many said – and rightfully so – he was reborn as a hero. Talha has been trained by his father, Muhammad Islam Natiq, national weightlifting coach for Pakistan.
Pakistani female cricketer, Javeria Khan, Tweeted, “Win or lose, you have already made Pakistan proud.” Rehan Ulhaq, Manager, Islamabad United said, “BTW Talha Talib is the first Pakistani weightlifter to make the cut for the Olympics since 1976. Pakistan should be proud of him.”
Talha Talib previously touched international recognition when he won a gold medal at the 2016 Commonwealth Youth Weightlifting Championships in Penang. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games he won a bronze medal in the 62 kg category. He won the gold medals at the 2020 International Solidarity Weightlifting Championship aggregating 304kg. It was because of his performances at the international levels that he earned a path to represent Pakistan at the 2020 Olympic Games.
While sharing his career with an international media outlet, Talha said that he has been facing difficulties while training as he does not have any proper training area. He cannot train when it rains, or when the weather is too hot or too cold as he has to train under the sky. “Despite the lack of resources, I have represented Pakistan at the international level,” he said. “I represented Pakistan in the weightlifting category of the Olympic Games after 45 years” he added. Talha began training at the age of eight. He said that he took permission from his teacher at school to use the school ground as his training area. It becomes a challenge for him to allocate time to his training as he must do it either before school opens in the morning or once it is closed later in the day.
Pakistan’s record at the Olympic Games over the last seven decades has been dismal, to say the least. Talha’s run at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 must be an eye-opener for the Pakistan Olympic Association and should serve as a case study. One can wonder how many untapped jewels akin to Talha Talib are living across Pakistan. Their potential has been untapped because of a lack of resources or they do not receive guidance on how to train, strengthen their potential and represent Pakistan at the national and international level, especially the Olympic Games. The Pakistan Olympic Association must adopt China’s policy to make an impact at the Olympic Games. China works hard to get results, they have a government-funded centralized training program, and they hire foreign sports experts. They pursue a talent identification program; follow a top-down sports system where children practice sports at schools to represent the country at the Olympics. They smartly allocate funds to sports they can win, have a technical-focused training system and consider it be a matter of national pride to represent the country at the global level.
On a priority basis, the Pakistan Olympic Association needs to restructure itself. It must create talent hunt competitions in schools and colleges amid SOPs and hold national events inviting school and college students. The Association’s objective must be to converge talent for various sporting events including among others basketball, archery, athletics, badminton, karate, tennis, table tennis, weightlifting. Indeed, athletes need to develop and nurture a positive attitude to carve for themselves a future as a successful athlete. They also need resources including equipment, trainer, finance, etc. The Association needs to embody the spirit of sportsmanship to create avenues that unite all sports and related associations under its banner to unify, monitor, and control the selection, training, and mentoring of the players to represent Pakistan at the international levels. If the Association works with vigour, passion, and dedication, many athletes like Talha can make a name for themselves and bring Pakistan in the medals tally at the Olympics.
