Last year saw two international events that the Indian athletes participated in - The Commonwealth Games at Glasgow and The Asian Games at Incheon, Seoul.
These games were held within a gap of 45 days.
Am sure all of us know that it's extremely difficult for an athlete to come up with peak performances within such little time. And to add - the weather, surroundings, food and time zone change don't help matters.
Still, some athletes take it upon themselves to come up with world class performances and win accolades for their country.
One such athlete is Discuss Thrower, Seema Punia from Sonepat, Haryana. She won a Silver at Glasgow and followed it up with a Gold at Incheon.
The moment she won those medals, the Haryana Govt and the Indian Olympic Association jumped up to announce cash rewards of Rs. 3 crore and Rs. 5 lac respectively.
Not surprisingly, Seema's yet to receive the cash rewards from both the associations.
I am asking - Why announce rewards when you can't give it on time? Instant gratification is the need of the hour. Here you have 20 yr old's hitting sixes in the IPL and they get rewarded almost immediately whereas athletes who earn medals and fame for the country get ignored.
Seema's been doing rounds of government offices along with her lawyer to prove her claim whereas these associations should have transferred the monies into her bank a/c even before she returns to India.
These athletes stay away from family, concentrate only on training and try to improve their performances. How will they win if they are required to run around government officials and offices? Is this how we treat our heroes.
Why would anyone take up sports as a career option?
These games were held within a gap of 45 days.
Am sure all of us know that it's extremely difficult for an athlete to come up with peak performances within such little time. And to add - the weather, surroundings, food and time zone change don't help matters.
Still, some athletes take it upon themselves to come up with world class performances and win accolades for their country.
One such athlete is Discuss Thrower, Seema Punia from Sonepat, Haryana. She won a Silver at Glasgow and followed it up with a Gold at Incheon.
The moment she won those medals, the Haryana Govt and the Indian Olympic Association jumped up to announce cash rewards of Rs. 3 crore and Rs. 5 lac respectively.
Not surprisingly, Seema's yet to receive the cash rewards from both the associations.
I am asking - Why announce rewards when you can't give it on time? Instant gratification is the need of the hour. Here you have 20 yr old's hitting sixes in the IPL and they get rewarded almost immediately whereas athletes who earn medals and fame for the country get ignored.
Seema's been doing rounds of government offices along with her lawyer to prove her claim whereas these associations should have transferred the monies into her bank a/c even before she returns to India.
These athletes stay away from family, concentrate only on training and try to improve their performances. How will they win if they are required to run around government officials and offices? Is this how we treat our heroes.
Why would anyone take up sports as a career option?
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