Haile Gebrselassie once said at a World championship that it was the Olympic gold medal that mattered most to him since not many in Ethiopia bothered about anything else.
In India, once every four years, the athletes look forward to participating in the Olympics. If after the Beijing Games there has been an added enthusiasm it is in the belief that Indians could also win medals at the Games as shown by Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar.
Now, with just 140 days left for the start of the London Olympics, the athletes are concerned that there is uncertainty surrounding India's participation in the Games.
It is not an ideal situation to concentrate on the task ahead, obviously the toughest for all the sportspersons, no matter that the government could be providing financial and material support.
The athletes that a team of The Hindu reporters spoke to on Monday, in the wake of increasing speculation regarding the government stand on Olympic participation, were unanimous in their view that sportspersons should not be victimised.
Some of the current athletes were reluctant to be quoted though a bunch of international shooters said that it was unimaginable that politics could be brought into sport like this to perhaps deprive the best chance an athlete ever had.
A few stalwarts, though completely agreeing with the higher compensation demand of the Bhopal gas tragedy victims, cautioned that nothing would be a greater tragedy for the sportspersons than a boycott.
The views of the athletes:
Vijender Singh , World and Olympic bronze medallist boxer: It is up to the IOA to decide. But boycotting is not the way to lodge your protest. Each athlete prepares hard and dreams of the Olympics. This will be disheartening.
M.C. Mary Kom , five-time World champion woman boxer: Boycotting the Olympics is not good for the athletes. It will shatter their dreams of participating in the Olympics. Women's boxing is there in the Olympics for the first time and we are doing hard work. It will be very demoralizing.
P. T. Usha , fourth-place finisher in Los Angeles Olympics: It is years of hard work that brings you to an Olympics. You can't spoil a lifetime's dream by saying we won't participate. I had a medal chance in the 1986 Commonwealth Games. We were forced to return after reaching London because of India's boycott. Not many remember that. I never had a chance to compete in the Commonwealth Games after that. Athletes will stand with the country, but sports should not be mixed with other issues.
Gurbachan Singh Randhawa , Tokyo Olympics finalist in 110m hurdles: I am of the view that athletes should not be put under stress because of any uncertainty surrounding participation. On what issue are we talking of staying away from the Games? Then why are we spending so much of money towards the preparation? There should be a clear-cut statement from the Government that we plan to compete in the Games.
Anju George , World championship bronze medal-winning long jumper: Four years of sweat and toil would be wasted if we don't go. It would be the greatest injustice to the athletes. India is not a big power in sports and a boycott will not make an impact. Other athletes may not even know that there was a boycott. Don't make athletes victims of another tragedy.
Ajitpal Singh , captain of World hockey cup winning team of 1975: I feel bad for the victims of the gas tragedy. But why bring sports into it? I will feel equally bad for the sportsmen if there was a boycott and their careers come to an end. Players look for just the tag of an Olympian apart from winning a medal and they may not last till the next Olympics. The Government should take a firm stand. But not to participate will not be the right decision.
