Notwithstanding the continued harassment they were subjected to by the coaches at the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, the male 400m runners from Kerala could breathe easy on Friday as news regarding approval for their camp was conveyed to them.
The Teams Wing of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) that handles National camps recommended clearance for the male quarter-milers' camp with immediate effect up to July 31 to progress alongside the camp for the core group of Olympic probables.
Five 400m runners — Jithin Paul, Bibin Mathew, V.B. Bineesh, P. Kunhumohammad and Jibin Sebastian — had reached Patiala last Monday only to be told that the camp was yet to be sanctioned and they would be required to pay for board and lodging.
The athletes said they were told by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to report to Patiala. The ‘developmental camp' they were attending was suddenly discontinued last December and since then, despite disruptions and hardships, the athletes were training at various places on their own initiative.
It is interesting to note that at a review meeting here last month under the OPEX 2012 scheme (Operation Excellence for London Olympics), none other than the Union Sports Minister, Ajay Maken, stressed the need to nurture the talent pool in the country.
“Mr. Maken emphasised that the AFI needs to adopt a futuristic outlook besides focusing intensively on London Olympics Games so that (the) talent pool in the country remains in proper circulation,” an official release had stated at that time.
The minister further said that more athletes “must be included in the camps so that (the) present strength of 30 is able to touch the sanctioned strength of 47.”
One can only wonder then why such a fuss was being created by the SAI in approving a camp for the male 400m runners, all of them young and almost all of them with international experience.
Barring Sebastian all the runners had figured in the longer relay quartet (Paul and Bineesh in the heats only) that finished fourth in the last Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, with a time of 3:06.49.
Seven athletes (the above five plus Jayakumar Premanand and S.K. Mortaja) have now been called for the camp in Patiala for the 4x400 relay team along with coach Lijo David Thottan.
It would be a tough task for the men's 4x400m relay team to make the Olympic grade — just as it is tough for the women's team minus the suspended athletes — since 3:04.12 was the average timing achieved by the 16th and last qualifier (South Africa) for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The recent best by an Indian quartet has been the 3:06.30 by the National team in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Following publication of the news in these columns on Thursday, regarding the plight of the Kerala runners, a few coaches are learnt to have approached the athletes and told them that they would not be bothered by such media reports and would continue to insist that the athletes pay up.
That the group included Ramesh Nagpuri was ironical since the Andhra coach was show-caused — some reports said at that time that he was also suspended along with another 400m coach R.S. Sidhu — following the doping scandal involving female 400m runners last July.
“What right can such a coach have in enjoying his stay at government expense at the NIS, apparently without any specific duty, and in demanding at the same time that athletes pay up for their stay at the camp?” asked one athlete on Friday.
The question also should be how the coach has been allowed to stay on in the National camp despite show-cause notice or suspension.
