THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The voice of Anil Kumar, a sprinter who reigned the national circuit for more than a decade, quivered and there was a lingering gap between words. Perhaps this was a tactic to make his breathing appear normal, which otherwise would have exposed his feelings. An Olympian and holder of national records in both sprint events — 100m and 200m — Anil was the undisputed sprint champion from 1997 till he hung up his boots. With Kerala set to host the 35th National Games, it was expected the state would honour its Olympians including Anil. But the organisers, it seems, think otherwise. Let alone felicitating the Olympians, they have conveniently forgotten them, forcing the former athletes to sharp reactions.
“I won’t go for the Games. If the organisers fail to even remember their Olympians, then why should we go begging! The organisers should have officially informed us but they didn’t do it. We haven’t been given accreditation and even if we turn up, we will be blocked at the entrance,” Anil was furious.
It’s not the sprinter alone who is agitated at the negligence of the Games organisers. Lijo David Thottan, the talented quater-miler, who was part of the 4x400m relay squad at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, said the decision to honour Arjuna award winners alone during the Games was not sensible.
“If Kerala can’t honour its Olympians, who else will do it? Karnataka, or Goa? It’s ironical that many of the Arjuna awardees couldn’t qualify for the Olympics. Being Olympians who contributed much to sports in the country, they should have been invited to the event. Now, the condition is such that if we want to see the Games, we have to travel on our own and beg organisers for passes. This scenario doesn’t augur well for the athletes,” he said.
Quarter-miler and Olympian P Ramachandran, who is married to another Olympian Jincy Philip, aired similar thoughts. “We feel bad when someone asks us whether we are going to the Games. They don’t know that we were not invited. We find it embarrassing to reveal it to them. Being left out of the whole thing, we understand that our achievements and efforts have little value in the eyes of the organisers,” Ramachandran said.
Meanwhile, the organisers were not available for comment.