Back to the tracks

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The athletes who have brought medals for the country in the Tokyo Olympics are predictably and deservedly the toast of the nation. Even those like the women’s hockey team that failed to win a medal have caught the imagination of the country and have become an inspiration to many. It is quite understandable that many individuals and organisations want to felicitate them. However, the example of the champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra being rushed to a hospital after exhaustion from continuous felicitations also illustrate the overkill that we are doing with our sportspersons.

A medal-hungry nation must understand that these athletes have been successful only because they could concentrate on their sports and nothing else. All the countries that produce great sportsmen and women have a system where the athletes continue focussing on their practice for years without sparing any thought for anything else. It is the single-minded devotion and dedication that sets them apart from the also-rans.

Not only those intent on felicitation but also sundry marketers who want to enlist the athletes for their brands and marketing communication must also understand that if they continuously keep diverting the attention of the athletes from the sporting arena for shoots and brand endorsement activities, they might end up doing a disservice to the nation in the long run. Dozens of brands have been desperate to associate themselves with sports stars and were ready to pounce on any opportunity. Brands and governments have not missed an opportunity to take the rub-off of the athletes. The focus currently should be on promoting talented athletes by providing state-of-the-art facilities for the future rather than moment marketing.

Dr Klaus Bartoneitz, Neeraj Chopra’s biomechanical expert, told the media that whatever was happening in India around the javelin thrower was crazy. One should understand that these athletes are also human. And it is possible that they get distracted by too much attention and adulation. There are several examples of world-class sportsmen losing track midway.