Olympics and Justice -do we care?

In the UK there have been celebrations and great national pride that the staging of the Olympics has gone so well. More than any time before, the nation has been behind our athletes and rejoiced in their success. In many ways the achievements of these men and women are an inspiration. Ordinary humans have pushed themselves to extraordinary physical capabilities. They have had to devote their lives and train with great dedication. They have also had many privileges and opportunities and some have had very significant support teams and expert help. Our cyclists easily won more gold medals than all other nations on earth put together, for the second Olympics in a row. This is in no small measure due to money, very careful planning and a very dedicated team. Compare this to the Nigerien rowing team that didn’t exist four months before the Olympics. The team has one 35 year old gardener, Hamidou who had never rowed until 3 months before the event. He didn’t have a sports psychologist, a manager or physiotherapist; I don't think he even had a coach. No one else in his country has ever competed in a rowing event; he doesn’t even own a boat! In fact his country has won only a single bronze medal (in 1972) throughout Olympic history which is actually better than neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso who have never won anything. The combined populations of these three countries in the Sahel region of Africa are over 50 million and yet it is virtually impossible for a single person in these countries to remain in their home country and get a medal. The Olympics is said to be a global event and some poor countries do get medals but the vast majority of medals go to rich nations. Where is India in the medal table with a population much bigger than the whole of Europe and the US combined? They did not get a single gold medal, in fact they only got 6 in total, compared to 104 for the US. God cares about justice and so should we!