It is sad that a country with such a vast potential has been under achieving consistently for such a long period of time. The Indian Olympic Association is going to send the nation's largest ever delegation (thus far 120 athletes; 37 larger than their previous record of 83 athletes in 2012) in Summer Olympics history. Here is a list of athletes I feel stand a good chance of a podium finish:

WRESTLING

Under the shadow of Sushil Kumar for the major part of his career, this guy has quietly gone about doing his business. Diligently practicing his routines day in and day out, taking utmost care of his diet and training Yogeshwar Dutt has transformed into a phenomenal athlete. So far that he is now one of India’s prime Gold medal hopes in the upcoming Rio Olympics. Agreed, the recent spate of injuries might have affected his preparations, but it’s his tremendous zeal and passion for the sport that have propelled his preparations for Rio. He trains for 5-6 hours every day in a hypoxic chamber where oxygen levels are controlled and high altitude conditions can be simulated. Such training exponentially raises an athlete’s endurance. We might witness something special from the veteran this time.

TENNIS

Sania Mirza & Rohan Bopanna (Mixed Doubles) - After usurping Leander Paes as Sania Mirza’s doubles partner and denying him a record 7th Olympics appearance, Rohan Bopanna along with Mirza carries the weight of the nation’s expectations on his shoulders. Two of the most respected doubles’ players from India, they have been in good form lately and are India’s prime medal hopes in tennis mixed doubles category.

BOXING

Hailing from Guwahati, Shiva Thapa is a young, passionate and aggressive boxer. The youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics, Shiva was not used to the spotlight and the overwhelming emotions of the big stage led to his undoing. 4 years down the road and the pugilist has improved by leaps and bounds. He is much stronger now both in the mind and body. Ranked 3rd in the bantamweight category in the AIBA Men's World Ranking and third Indian to clinch Gold at the Asian Games, he’s got the credentials and is a strong contender for India for the 2016 Olympics.

Manoj Kumar came into the global spotlight after being crowned the champion at the 2010 Commonwealth games in Delhi. In the London Olympics, he was defeated in the pre-quarterfinal bout against world number one Tom Stalker of Great Britain in a controversial manner. With 11 years of experience to bank on, Manoj is a formidable athlete. From Puerto Rico to Ireland to Tajikistan, he has beaten a slew of world class boxers and has a copious amount of international victories to prove it. The boxer was also honored with the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2014. Being the most experienced Indian male boxer in the right now, everyone is convinced about the veteran’s chances, but Manoj remains modest.

GOLF

Anirban Lahiri is the top ranked golfer in Asia and will have a relatively easy field in Rio, owing to the mass pull out by top international golfers. He has the skill and experience to put in a medal-winning show, if he can maintain his form throughout the competition. Lahiri will be spearheading India's campaign at Rio. He has been plying his trade on the PGA Tour this season, and has enjoyed an exceptional season in 2015 with two wins on the European Tour and a phenomenal tied-fifth finish at the PGA Championship, the best result for an Indian at a Major till date. It will be huge ask for the Indian golfer to scale the podium in Rio, but like the other major tournaments, Lahiri is certain to make India proud with his performance.

SHOOTING

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra made history by winning a gold medal in the 10m Air Rifle event and ended India's excruciating wait for an individual gold medalist at the Summer Games. It was also India's first Olympic yellow medal since 1980 when its men's hockey team returned home on a high. Known for nothing less than perfection, I have heard Bindra has created an exact replica of the shooting range in Rio. This man’s passion for the sport and his experience makes me hopeful of another podium finish from him.

Jitu Rai is India's big medal hope in shooting, especially in the 50m pistol event where he is ranked second in the world. Ranked third in the 10m air pistol event, his medals at 2014 Asian Games and ISSF World Cups in 2014 and 2015 show that a double medal haul isn't beyond the twenty-nine year old.

Another veteran with loads of international experience and an Olympic bronze under his belt, Gagan Narang inspires confidence of a podium finish at Rio despite his recent spate of ordinary performances. After a silver and a bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Glasgow, Narang has shot in seven World Cups and finished in the top three only once. But still, his experience and grit can be banked upon and hopefully he’ll secure another medal for India.

BADMINTON

She needs no introduction and is without doubt India’s best bet to win an Olympic medal in badminton. She won a bronze medal in London and though the competition in ladies’ singles is tougher this time, Saina Nehwal is in great form and I believe she can definitely do better than a bronze medal this time.

Hockey Men

Under the captaincy of Sreejesh and coaching of Roelant Oltmans, our hockey team has transformed into a formidable unit. They have proved it with a terrific performance in the Champions’ Trophy bagging a silver medal. The bench strength is growing and players have developed agility and speed that you don’t associate generally with Indian players. Hopefully the draught for Indian hockey since 1980 will end this time.

Gymnastics

Deepa Karmakar: The 22 year old gymnast from Agartala is a very talented gymnast. She is one of only five women in the world to have landed the Produnova, the most difficult and dangerous vault in the world. She won the bronze medal in 2014 Commonwealth Games and looks in great form to win the first medal for India in gymnastics. She is the first Indian woman to have qualified for the Gymnastics ever.

I sincerely hope that I am proven wrong and our country wins more medals than I have predicted. My heartiest wishes to all the Rio bound athletes.

a Gold by Abhinav Bindra, bronze by Sushil Kumar in wresting & Vijender Singh got a Bronze in boxing.

In 2012, London Olympics our performance improved reasonably well & we got 6 medals in wresting and shooting.

Motivation is the reason behind every task we do. It instills in us a goal directed behaviour. Whatever we do, from waking up in the morning to climbing the Mount Everest, every move of ours is a product of motivation.

Now the first thing which needs to be understood is that the strongest motivation evident is always intrinsic, when a person is really interested in something. The person will do it with their best effort since there would be internal motivation present and they must be enjoying it. However, this does not mean extrinsic motivation has no effect. It has amazingly strong results too. In this case, one is driven with the desire to get something, for instance pay checks, marks in examination or winning a competition. Therefore, if I talk about ways to boost your motivation, it would clearly be regarding the extrinsic one.

An Indian professional boxer, Vijender Singh, says, “Expectations are good. They make you responsible towards those who have faith in you. We get motivated when so many people expect something from us. Expectations charge you up”. These words are very true. A person who starts to lose hope but suddenly remembers the load of expectations his loved ones have put, makes him go on, it makes him forget that losing could be an option. Whenever we are in a tough situation, it seems quite a good option to feel the burden of people who believe in us. At least it helps a great Indian boxer to win.

The God of cricket, as people call him in India, Sachin Tendulkar says “Competitive spirit has a huge role in making me what I am today.” Competitiveness really does pace you up! It is something which drives you crazy in order to be the best. However it is also right to know that the best person you can compete with is always yourself. Once you compete with others and reach the top, you want to sustain that position. Therefore keep competing with yourself constantly, always keep getting better, and don’t ever remain stagnant.

Vishwanathan Anand, India’s grandmaster of chess, says, “Confidence is very important - even pretending to be Confident. If you make a Mistake but do not let your Opponent see what you are thinking then he may overlook the Mistake.” Of course, if we don’t believe in our self, how can we believe that everything will go fine? How can we urge our self to continue? Apart from your skills, your confidence is the strongest element. When you know that you can, you’ll always end up thinking, why not?

Leander Paes, the phenomenal Indian tennis player states, “If I have a reason to do something, and I have enough passion, I generally succeed.” The important thing about motivation is that it is a goal directed behavior. There is always some kind of goal, some kind of reason. Unless you don’t know why you’re doing something, you wouldn’t get involved with all your heart. If you’re playing tennis and even hitting the ball with the racket gives you pleasure, it becomes a huge reason for you to continue. It makes you happy!

In just about every sport in India, we have a sportsperson who has achieved excellence in his field without having the luxury to possess any fancy equipments or world-class facilities, initially.

Let’s have a look at three Indian players who used The Power of Broke and became forever legends in the history of Indian sports:

• Milkha Singh – The Padma Shri winner, had a traumatic childhood as he witnessed the murder of his parents, brother and two sisters in the violence that ensued Partition. There was a time when Milkha stayed in jail and in a refugee camp.

  Disillusioned with his life, Milkha even considered becoming a dacoit, at a young age. But, after being persuaded by a friend, he joined the Indian Army in 1951. It was here that he was exposed to athletics and received his training.

  Milkha has won many honorable medals in his career, including a gold medal at the 1959 Commonwealth Games in 400m, a gold medal at the 1958 Asian Games for 200m and 400m, and a gold medal in the 1962 Asian Games.

• Mary Kom – An Olympic bronze medalist, a five-time World Amateur Boxing champion, and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships, Mary Kom lived in Manipur, a state torn by poverty and insurgency. Initially, she had to overcome a lot of opposition while taking up boxing, a sport that has traditionally been considered masculine.

  Mary was the eldest of four siblings and often had to help her parents in the jhum fields, where her parents worked, to support the family and side-by-side she managed her studies and practiced athletics.

• Vijender Singh – Olympic bronze medalist and Padma Shri winner, Vijender Singh is the son of a bus driver with Haryana Roadways.

  His father drove buses overtime to pay for Vijender and his brother’s schooling. In order to ensure a better life for their poor family, Vijender and his elder brother Manoj decided to learn boxing. After Manoj succeeded in entering the Indian Army in 1998 with his boxing credentials, he supported Vijender financially so he could continue his boxing training.

  Among various prestigious awards won by Vijender, his gold medal in 2010 Asian Games and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award are most memorable.

These are just a few remarkable Indian sports personalities, among various others, who turned their “disadvantage” of being broke into a power and have created history.