Ever wondered how does a host state perform whenever it hosts the National Games? How much improvement is shown in its performance as compared to previous editions?
Take the case of Goa. So far, in just six days of competition, it has won 30 medals (2 gold, 5 silver and 23 bronze) and are currently ranked 18th overall in the medal tally. This is more than the total medals it won at the last two editions at Gujarat (2022) and Kerala (2015) wherein it won 5 (rank – 30th)and 11 (rank – 24th) medals respectively.
Goa’s previous best was at Jharkhand (2011)where the state won 16 medals (5 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze) to finish at a creditable 16 th position.
Majority of Goa’s medals have come from Pencak Silat (16), a martial arts sport and Modern Pentathlon (8), a sport which involves 5 disciplines -fencing, swimming, riding, shooting and running. Both these sports have made their debut at the National Games and have contributed 24 out of the 30 medals won so far by Goa. Rest of the medals has come from swimming (3), athletics (1), netball (1) and weightlifting (1).
In recent times, whenever a state has organised the National Games, on most of the occasions, it has featured in the top 5 in medal tally. Though Goa won’t go that far, it has already won the highest number of medals in its National Games history. A creditable performance indeed.
In 1987, Kerala had become champions when it hosted the event. Similarly, Maharashtra topped the medal tally when it hosted the Games in 1994. The 1997 National Games was hosted by Karnataka and they won the most number of medals.
Manipur which had finished 9th in the 1997 National Games, came second in the medal tally when they hosted the event two years later in 1999.
In 2001, it was the turn of hosts Punjab to become champions. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh which had won only 12 gold in 2001 went on to become champions when they hosted it in 2002by winning a whopping 94 gold and 242 medals overall.
In 2002, Assam had managed to win only a single gold and 11 medals overall to finish at a poor 21 st position. But, in the subsequent 2007 National Games which they hosted, they finished in the third position with 148 medals including 38 gold. However, in 2011, Assam’s performance dropped drastically and they finished at 15th position by winning just 5 gold medals.
Jharkhand which was in the 15th position in 2007 National Games, rose to 5th position when they hosted it in 2011 with 96 medals including 33 gold.
However, in 2015, Jharkhand slipped to 13 th position.
Kerala which had finished 7th in the previous edition of National Games in 2011 climbed to the second spot with 54 gold and 162 medals overall when it hosted the event in 2015.
Last year, hosts Gujarat did well to finish 12 th in the medal tally with 49 medals including 13 gold. It was Gujarat’s best performance ever at the National Games. In 2015, Gujarat had won just 20 medals.
Now, in 2023, this trend continues with hosts Goa winning a record number of medals in its National Games history.
