KOCHI: Despite having booked his place for the Tokyo Olympics and re-writing his own national record in the process recently, long jump sensation M Sreeshankar is a concerned man these days. With the date for the quadrennial event nearing, Sreeshankar is hoping to participate in some international meets to get some experience under his belt.
However, the second wave of COVID-19 outbreak has put a spanner in his plans as he is not getting invites to these athletic meets abroad. "We had a plan to go to Europe to participate in competitions by May end and the first week of June. That was our plan but we couldn’t have predicted such a situation and now we are having a difficult time procuring visa. This has become a major challenge as India has been categorised as a red zone country. The meet organisers in Europe are not even giving invitations to the Indian athletes which makes everything even harder," said Sreeshankar.
The 22-year-old underlined the importance of participating in international events and going on exposure tours, especially for the Olympic-bound athletes. The Olympic-bound athletes are expected to be given priority when it comes to the vaccines but the Palakkad native said he will follow the guidelines of the Athletic Federation of India when it comes to that.
"So far there has been no notification regarding the vaccine. We will consult with the AFI and the doctors and take their advice on this when it is made accessible and time to take it. But to go abroad and compete, we’ll probably have to take the vaccine and convince the meet organisers that it is safe for us to compete. If we manage to reach Europe, then it will be fine I guess to compete and train there," he said.
Sreeshankar is currently training back at his base in Palakkad but he is desperate to start participating in competitive events.
"This is the Olympic year and if one has to go there and put in a good performance, then we really need good exposure. Participating in two or three good competitions will itself boost our confidence. The AFI has told us they will provide all support when it comes to visas but the biggest hurdle is that we are not getting invitations. Let’s hope that after vaccination, they are ready to let us compete there," he said.