Indian ‘no-hopers’ will take part in athletics

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Sydney: By no stretch of imagination are current days that the best Indian athletics has seen. National records may have been broken by the dozen in recent weeks, but at the same time there has always been a spectre of doubtagainst many of these performances.

When P T Usha's national records, which had stood the test of time formore than a decade, went down in a heap, there were more than a few eyebrows raised and the 'great lady' herself raised a question.

And she was justified in that domestic meets for most part of the season didnot drug tests. Yes, it is hardly right to live in the past. We cannot for ever hold on to memories left behind by Milkha Singhs, Gurbachan Singh, Sriram Singhs and P T Ushas.

But the real fact is that none in the current crop is a patch on these great names. Milkha's record may have changed hands, but he clocked the time - 45.6 seconds - 40 years ago and it was world class then. He actually clocked better than the then Olympic record while finishing fourth in Rome in 1960.

And Paramjit Singh, the youngster, who is now the holder of the record, is nowhere near world class. This is not to belittle Paramjit, but is only to put the current timings in the right perspective.

The same goes for K M Beenamol, who has taken over P T Usha's 400m record. Usha had clocked 51.61 in 1985 while finishing fifth in the World Cup and Beenamol, clocked 51.21s in a meet in Ukraine, where there wereno world class athletes.

And Beenamol would be hard pressed to win a gold in Asia, where Usha was unbeatable in the continent for almost a decade. India has sent a 30-member squad, comprising 15 each in men and women. The numbers have swelled mainly because in both sections the AAFI has chosen to send both the relay teams.

Six in the two 4 x 400m plus five each in the two 4 x 100m relays mean 22 members. In the individual men's events, Anil Kumar will figurein 100m, Paramjit Singh in 400m, and they are also members of the relay teams.

In field events, Shakti Singh and Bahadur Singh will compete in shot put on the opening day itself, while Jagdish Bishnoi figures in javelin and Sanjay K Rai in men's long jump. But there is still no news on whether or not Rai has been cleared and sent.

There was talk of him being held back for unspecified reasons and the team management here is also not clear about it. So much so for co-ordination.

In women's the individual entries show Sunita Rani in 1,500m, but till yesterday the news was she is not coming. But then with the Indian contingent, one never knows. She might simply show up the starting line andto hell with any injury problems. She does need that Olympian tag.

Others in individual entries include Neelam Jaswant Singh discus, Gurmeet Kaur in javelin, G G Pramila and Soma Biswas in heptathlon and Pramila will also compete in long jump.

And it is no secret that few, if any, have a chance of getting close to the final. And Olympics is no place to send no-hopers for exposure. Yet as cynics, the more the athletes, the greater number of officials the federation can send.

And happy state officials is the major reason, why the powers that be continue to rule the roost for as long as they wish. The only athletes who have any chance to make the final, are the two 1,600m relay teams in men and women's sections.

Even Shakti Singh, who set an as-yet-unratified Asian record in a domestic meet, has little chance of getting into the final 12. Even his personal best of 20.60m would not see him finish anything better than 18th or 20th in a field of 37.

But the greatest achievement for Indian athletes will be that when they return they can all call themselves as Olympians. May be even print visiting cards with the five rings on them. And some years later, nobody will be asking them what they did at the Olympics. Just being there is enough for them.

India Abroad News Service