DomainK Posted July 6, 2012 Posted July 6, 2012 Imagine two of AsiaÃÔ top athletes knocking on various doors to collect Rs 30,000 so that they can have a shot at qualifying for the London Olympics? Actually, drop the imagination and get a harsh welcome to reality. It is also one of those ÃÔtrange things that you can add into your êt happens only in India list. P Kunhumohammed 400m runner and Joseph G Abraham gold medalist at the Asian Games in 400m hurdles needed to fly to Colombo to participate in Sri LankaÃÔ National Athletics Championship that could have culminated in Olympic qualification. They needed just Rs 30,000 to make that trip. But they couldnÃÕ get it. It was their last chance and now itÃÔ gone. Official apathy? Of course. Bureaucracy and a lack of funds have forced some athletes to stay home as their teammates gun for glory in Britain.AFP Ÿe knocked on several doors in Kerala but no one came forward. I checked my account and it had only Rs 9,000, Kunhumohammed was quoted as saying in a Times of India report. Bureaucracy and a lack of funds have forced them to stay home as their teammates gun for glory in Britain. To top it all, Kunhumohammed needed to shave off a few milliseconds to qualify. His personal best was 46.14 seconds at the Asian GP and the qualification mark is 45.90 seconds. It was the same for Joseph Abraham, whose timing of 49.98s isnÃÕ far from the qualification target of 49.80s. Lijo Thottan, the assistant national coach tried to get in touch with the associationÃÔ officials but all he could get was the timeless excuse: ÅÕhe president is out of station. The whole situation is ridiculous especially when you see the amount of money India spent on hosting the Commonwealth Games or for that matter the largely unknown Afro-Asian Games in 2003. A report said Rs 28,054 crores were spent on hosting the Commonwealth Games. The obvious argument is that most of that money was spent on infrastructure which indirectly affected the athletes but look at the scandal that followed. The Afro-Asian Games, which are now almost defunct, incurred a cost 21 crores in Hyderabad. And what about Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who thought about allowing MLAs to use Rs 20 lakh from their development fund on cars? There are numerous other instances like this. And when you consider what it means to two athletes desperate to represent their nation at the highest level, falling short of Rs 30,000, it is just heartbreaking. The problem lies in prioritisation. Does India want to spend on hosting tournaments with the risk of a scandals breaking out immediately after? Or are we interested in sending our athletes to as many events as possible and inspire them to greater heights? Either which way, as they watch their teammates on TV at the Olympics, Kunhumohammed and Abraham will be thinking that they just might have been there too. http://www.firstpost.com/sports/olympics-mess-association-snubs-asian-games-gold-medallist-368220.html tl;dr: Asian games gold medalists needed Rs. 30,000 each to qualify for the Olympics. The association slammed the door on their face and no one else came to help. Now it's too late. Shame on us! :facepalm:
Clarke Posted July 6, 2012 Posted July 6, 2012 Rs. 30k is what we used to raise years back by selling samosas etc on campus ($$ earnings ofcourse) for our charity
Lurker Posted July 6, 2012 Posted July 6, 2012 tl;dr: Asian games gold medalists needed Rs. 30,000 each to qualify for the Olympics. The association slammed the door on their face and no one else came to help. Now it's too late. Shame on us! :facepalm: What a crying shame! Have we become so immune that such news just seems as usual day? That the Govt/IOC didnt do anything shouldnt raise any eyebrows, whats the Private sector doing? 30,000 is what most software companies would spend on chai for a day at work...:blink:
akshayxyz Posted July 6, 2012 Posted July 6, 2012 There was a day (over couple of weeks) when I won about 70K for the runner up title, playing PC games. That year, prize money for Billiards/Snooker title at National level was 20K!!!. That day (thereabout), I abandoned my dream of playing snooker/billiard/pool at higher levels (in India).
akshayxyz Posted July 7, 2012 Posted July 7, 2012 We lost a Geet Sethi in you. The world does not miss could/would-have-beens.
superstar Posted July 7, 2012 Posted July 7, 2012 A report said Rs 28,054 crores were spent on hosting the Commonwealth Games. The obvious argument is that most of that money was spent on infrastructure which indirectly affected the athletes but look at the scandal that followed. Correction. The money was mostly spent improving the infrastructure of the homes of IOA officials
Crookbond Posted July 7, 2012 Posted July 7, 2012 The world does not miss could/would-have-beens. Kidding - brah. And JFTR, yes the world does miss "could have beens". Archie Jackson, Mike Procter, Van Der Bijl come to mind.
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