Sadly, India lacks a supporting environment for sport. Few youth are groomed to take up a career in sport, almost none begin intensive training at an early age. Public facilities are ridiculously scarce in our metros, forget elsewhere. Scientific training is practically absent. Official support, such as it is, is episodic at best, apathetic at worst. Corporate sponsorship is frugal when compared to the money lavished on cricket. Serious sporting resources are therefore well beyond most Indians’ reach. In fact, Indian sport operates from a narrow base. Elite schools conduct annual sports days, but less privileged children lack even these openings. Outside school, there are nearly no affordable facilities. Is it any wonder then that only a few Indians are physically active? But this need not be an impediment to Olympic medals, if such is our limited goal. Most Indians will be surprised to learn that despite outperforming us at the Olympics, China also struggles to provide sport facilities for all of its youth. Urban China also contends with juvenile obesity and other lifestyle challenges. Clearly, it is their conscious choice to set aside significant funding to select and rigorously train champions. If we are determined to push our young children too—and we obviously are, looking at the queues outside cram schools—we can also create sporting capacity without widening the popular base.