Paris 1900 To Paris 2024 :: Not " ONCE " , Many A Times, It Happened With Indians At International '" SPORTS " Meet
Paris 1900 To
Paris 2024 Not ONCE ,
Many A Times, It Happened With Indians At International ' SPORTS
Meet
So much so was spoken about Vinesh Phogat’s
disqualification. So much so was done after that. Good to see that after so
many a years and after so many tales of the sportsman suffering from the hands
of the organisers, the Government of India has taken the step to go to the
International Court Of Sports Administration to file their case and fight for
the DUEFUL right of the
Silver medal that ought to be conferred to Madam Vinesh Phogat.
THE QUESTION THAT
ARISES , THE QUESTION OF CONJECTURE -::
The question that arises is
HAS IT HAPPENED FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN THE ANNALS OPF INDIAN SPORTS HISTORY. The answer is STRAIGHT, STRAIT AND SIMPLE – NO.
Then the question that arises is - WHY
WAS AND WHY IS THAT WHEN THE HAPPENINGS HAVE BEEN GOING IN FOR A LONG – LONG TIME,
THE GOVERNMENT OF SPORTS, UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA WAS AND HAS BEEN MUMM FOR ALL THESE BLOODY YEARS.
Tears in the form of BLOOD always have come out of the eye of the Indian
sportsman for all these, over the years, but somehow they have kept quiet and mumm
because they did not get any body from the national Government to help and
fight their case. It is for the FIRST time that the Sports Ministry
under the Government .
Well , what have been the incidence and what were the
reasons for the incident that caused the uproars in the fraternity of Indian
sports, and what actually did happen after that for the sports personalities to
bear it. That would make an interesting reading .
The first such case happened in the Paris Olympics 1900. It happened with a sportsman whose name was Norman Pritchard. This gentleman of Indian sports had come all the way from Scotland at United Kingdom here at India, after completing his studies in Englsh Literature from Scotland. His father was a sportsman of repute at Scotland, but had come to India upon the request of the British administration to take over a tea plantation at Assam and Darjeeling . Norman landed here in 1899 and he joined his Father at Assam but he would travel from Assam to Darjeeling for his sports training as Darjeeling then , was under the British Military and the facilities of the games and sports were superb at Darjeeling then.
Mr Douglas Pritchard wanted his son to join the British
Administrative Services and he inthat pretext got his son admitted to Saint Xaviers,
Kolkatta and it was here that Norman started his intensive training at sports.
He soon made his mark and he went on to win the British India Sports meet that
was held at Kolkatta then. The next was his eye on the Olympics.
Mr Douglas Pritchard did not possess that kind of money to
fund his son’s trip to Olympics. He approached the British Authorities but
found nothing coming his way. At that moment a Bengali gentleman, named ,
Harihar Banerjee, who was a visiting Professor at the Saint Xavier’s, came in
as a handy. He had his family working at the tea gardens at Assam as well as
Darjeeling and through them he got into contact with the association of TEA
PLANTATIONS of Darjeeling and Assam and could raise a hefty amount
of over Rupees Six Thousand then.It was more than enough for Norman and his
Father to sial and reach Paris.
On the way to Paris Norman participated in some tournaments
held at Colomobo, London and Paris and he won each of them to win the GOLD. By
the time he reached Paris for the Olympics, he was a SURE BET for the GOLD
in the 100 metres and the 200 metres dash.
At the Paris Olympics, Norman participated in FIVE
events of the Olympics, all the dash from 100 metres to 200 metres
including the 200 metres hurdles. During that period of the Olympics, the 200
metres hurdles used to be the highlights of the Olympics. Of late now this
event has been scrapped.
Norman made it to the finals of all the FIVE events that he participated and he won the
SILVER in two of the events- the 200 metres dash and the 200 metres hurdles .
NORMAN BECOMES THE " FIRST " PRE - INDEPENDENCE INDIAN ATHLETE TO WIN TWO MEDALS IN A SINGLE EDITION OF OLYMPICS '
While winning two medals at Paris Olympics in 1900 m, Norman became the FIRST ever Indian Athlete to win not only the FIRST EVER MEDAL . for India in the Olympics , but he also went on to become the FIRST ever Indian INDIAN to win TWO OLYMPICS medals in ONE edition of Olympics, a feat which now has been equalled by Manu Bhaker in the recently concluded Olympics at Paris, of course it being a post - Independence Olympics
While he returned back home, no sooner that he landed at
India, he was taken to the Police station at Bombay then. He was summoned to
the court of the British at Bombay to prove that HE WAS AN INDIAN
CITIZEN.
There arose a lot of controversy about his birth place. The non-availability
of the certificate of his place of birth, then, proved to be their and his NEMESIS
and both the SILVER medal were taken away from Norman and those were send to
the BRITISH AUTHORITIES at Kolkatta and from there it travelled to LONDON
at the BRITISH MUESEUM to be placed there.
The QUEEN OF BRITAIN then, proclaimed it as the BRITISH MEDAL and it became
their property. In 1950 an attempt was made by the Indian Olympic Association under
the stewardship of Sir
Dorabji Tata who was the founding president of the Indian Olympic
Association. The first
ever Asian Games were to be held at New Delhi and Mr Tata wanted that medal to
be displayed to the general public, during the opening ceremony of the games.
However his effort bore no
fruits as he was not helped by any Indian officials holding their seats and
chair in the office.
THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT UNDER Mr NARENDRA MODI SHOULD MAKE AN EARNEST EFFORT TO GET THE MEDALS BACK AND PLACE IT ON THER NATIONAL SPORTS MUESEUM
If there has been any justice IMPRUDENTLY metted on any
athlete that ever participated in the Olympics from India it was Henry Rebello.
Henry in short that I would like to write here WAS THE GREATEST EVER INDIAN ATHLETE EVEN
GREATER THAN MILKHA SINGH to have forayed into the scene of Indian
athletics. No athehlete in the WORLD
then at that stage, could clear the 16 meters mark in the TRIPLE JUMP in the WORLD. Henry in the 1947 Indian
Nationals meet held under the British agesis at India then had jumped to a distance
of 17.51 metres . HE WAS THE SOLE ONE IN THE WORLD THEN TO HAVE JUMPED THAT FAR AS A
DISTANCE.
Came the 1948 Olympics and he was in the finals. He had
leaped a distance of 16.88 metres in the qualification and had entered the
finals as the NUMERO – UNO of the heats. He was a sure sort of a GOLD
medal winner and that everybody took it as the GOLD was his.
During that era , the Indian contingent never had the TACK SUIT to keep themselves
warm. What the athlete would do if he was an Indian, was that they would run to
warm themselves, and would skip to the requirement to flex their body its
muscles and keep themselves warm.
Henry entered the stadium of the day when the finals were to
be held. Along with the others he warmed himself, but as compared to the
others, he had NO TRACK SUIT to wear them. The Indian Government then
could not provide them the track suit due to the money factor that was not
there in the coffers of the Sports department or the Athletics Federation of India.
The event started , and just as the moment when Henry was to
take the first jump, the QUEEN of
England arrived at the stadium. There was the medal ceremony that was to be
held. A Britisher from England by then
by the name of David Bond Stewart Morris had
won the GOLD for Great
Britain The Queen was called upon to confer the medal to him.
In that process the finals of the Triple – Jump was
held and it was stopped till the medal ceremony would be over. The athlete of
all the other nation participating, wore their track suit to keep themselves
warm. This was NOT the case of Henry Rebello who did not possess one.
When the event finally started after a break of about 20
minutes or maybe thirty, Henry approached the organisers, and to the Technical
authorities, with a REQUEST to allow the athletes , at least 30 minutes to get
themselves warm. He openly cited the reasons that there were three athletes who
did not possess the Track – suits with them to keep their body warm. His pleas
fell upon the deaf ears. Those in the jury of the technical committee
plainly told him that the respective federation sought to have provided the
track suits to their athletes participating and it was NOT for the organising committee to consider on these lines.
The events ought to be finished as per the schedule, and
thus finding nothing to help him, Henry took the first jump in the body which
was as good as FREEZED. In doing so and in taking the first jump, he
applied too much of enery to his body to take the thrust, and while taking the
leap or the JUMP as we call it in the triple jump event, HE INJURED HIS THIGH AS IT WAS
PULLED. In the common sports parlance IT IS CALLED AS MUSCLE PULL.
Henry could not produce his
MAGIC AND WIZARDY in
the remaining of the jumps and A
GREAT CHANCE FOR INDIA TO WIN ITS FIRST EVER OLYMPIC MEDAL IN THE TRACK EVENT
OF THE OLYMPICS WAS LOST.
The final was won by Arne
Åhman of Sweden. It was Sweden's first victory in the event since
1912, and first medal since 1932 .The winning distance was 15.40 metres and
this distance was covered more than it , by Henry Rebello as many as " NINE " times between 1946 to 1948 before the
Olympics
If only the technical committee was approached by the Indian delegation, perhaps the decision might have had some gravity, but as there was NONE that could go that far- THAT MEDAL OF INDIA WENT AS FAR AS TO SWEDEN FROM LONDON FOR THE TRAVEL OR FOR THE SAIL.
Padam
Bahadur Mall ;;“ GIGGLY GOOS – LAUGHING DOUGHS ” AS WE “
BUMBLE BEE ” CAN BE
This
man is the FIRST EVER BOXER WHO WON
A GOLD AT THE BOXING IN THE BOXING
EVENT FOR INDIA.
Padam Bahadur Mall from Dehradoon, India and the Sepoy in the
GORKHA REGIMENTS who was
into the Gorkha Rifles , not only fought the boxing to give India
her FIRST ever international GOLD in the boxing, but he also
fought TWO wars , in 1965 and in
1971 to win it HANDS DOWN for India .
Padam in short- OK,
I WRITE THAT AND I WRITE IT. Qualified for the Melbourne Olympic in the
qualifiers from the Asian nation category in 1956.This Olympics were to be held
at Melbourne .
In the process of his fight he beat an Japanaese boxer by 5-3
to make it to the Olympics. Padam in that weight category had beaten almost all
the boxers in the world in the various events held either internationally or in
the events where the Indian Boxing Association with
the help of the SERVICES SPORTS CONTROL BOARD held these Boxing events that
were held at India.
It may be mentioned here that initially, the Service Sports
Control Board was responsible to prepare the Indian Boxing contingent for the
international events and in this case, Colonel Devine Jones who participated in
the Boxing, in the London Olympics for India had a great role to play.
Nothing happened till the minute when the finals of the
qualifications were over.However aftyer the finals were over, the BEE sting
stung India. Padam Bahadur Mall was disqualified in the finals even after beating
that Japanese was beaten HOLLOW
– AND – SQUARE .Stung by this reverse, the Indian contingent
approached ther organizer to know what was the reason.
The reason advocated was -:
PADAM
BAHADUR MALL FOUGHT WITH A “ TORN ”BOXING
GLOVES WHICH IS NOT ALLOWED IN THE INTERNATIONAL EVENTS TO QUALIFY FOR THE OLYMPICS.
When checked, it was found that just a small bit of the
gloves which Padam used it in the finals, was torn in and on the area from
where the Boxers deliver the PUNCH. .It was PREPONDATED
that the portion where the gloves was torn, the skin or the knuckle of the
boxer could have come out to hit the opponent and that could have been
fatal.This expression of FATALITY went against Padam and he was disqualified.
The Services Sports Authority took the matter to the HIGHEST
ECHELON of the sports that governed the games, and just before
three days of the start of the Olympics proper at Melbourne came the verdict in
favour of Padam. He was asked and summoned to rush to Melbourne for the event.
BY THAT TIME PADAM IN ANGUISH AND
IN DEJECTION HAD ANNOUNCED ABOUT GIVING UP BOXING .
In the
tournament that followed at the Olympics that Japanese boxer went upto the
semi- finals and had lost his bout in the semis to fight for the Bronze. Thus a
chance for India to atleast win a BRONZE in the Olympics in
1956 had GONE WITH THE WIND.
Padam was handed and given ONLY ONE PAIR of
the boxing gloves by the Indian Boxing Association then as IT DID NOT HAVE MONEY TO
AFFORD MORE than the one that was given to him.
Kasaba Jadhav ;;
WAS HE CHEATED OR DONE AWAY WITH IT
The Helsinki Olympics had its importance and its own
tale.The history was that this was to be held in 1940, but due to the WORLD
WAR TWO it was done away with. Once to World War was over the
International Olympics Association in 1952 accorded it to Helsinki to host it.
This Olympics was so IMPORTANT to India and it
became a LANDMARK in the
annals of the Olympics of India. There were two reasons for the same. The first
was that KUNWAR DIGVIJAY SINGH BABU became the FIRST
Indian to be accorded as the HELMS TROLHY WINNER for being the
BEST ASIAN ATHLETE AND THE BEST ATHLETE OF THE WORLD FOR THE 1952
OLYMPICS.
The second reason oif this Olympics was that IT
WAS FOR THE FIRST TIME, THAT INDEPENDENT INDIA WON HER FIRST MEDAL OUTSIDE THE
HOCKEY EVENT. That individual medal won by India in WRESTLING was
the FIRST ever wrestling medal as an
INDIVIDUAL medal won individually by an Indian.
WRESTLING IN THOSE
DAYS IN OLYMPICS - ::
In those days, in the Olympics, the wrestling events were
held ON
BREAK OF THE DAY BASIS. What I meant to say was that after fighting
one bout, any wrestler would be given a break of a day to fight the next bout.
This was doneto recuperate and to gain the physical possession of the body to
normalcy and perfection.That used to be the rule during those days.
These days we see the wrestler fighting all his bout on the
day itself to either win a medal or to lose that. Well, in 1952, everything was
going so well for Kasabha Jadhav who was
a SEPOY in the Maharashtra Police . He beat one by one and reached the
semis. He won his Quarter- finals bout by a fall and after all the formalities
of the weight measurement and such paraphernalia’s , he set his way to the room
which was allotted to him in the games village for rest.
He had a light meal and he rounded off to sleep. That was to
take immense rest before the next bout. No sooner he felt asleep and was into
the SOUND
of the same, there was a KNOCK at his room. He
woke up and he was said something. Being
an Maharashtrian he could NOT understand English. He
along with the official who woke him up, moved to the Indian Coach of the wrestling
contingent, and signelled them/him, that the official wanted to conspire
certain information to him.
WHEN THE OFFICIAL SPOKE THE INDIAN COACH WAS IN A FOR A
RUDE SHOCK. The Olympic Technical Official was asking Kasabha Jadhav and the
Coch to immediately come up for the next bout of the semis.
For a moment, the Indian Coach was short of speech. Yet he
regained his composure and said that the next bout of Jadhav was on the next
day.He had finished fighting his bout for the day and had made it to the semis. The Technical authority along with the
Olympic Organising Authority just said to them was – DUE TO CERATIN IMPEDIMENT THE
WRESTLING EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED AND THAT JADHAV HAS TO FIGHT TODAY ITSELF
WITHIN THE NEXT THIRTY MINUTES.That was the time allotted to him to
reach to the venue and fight the bout.
Jadhav packed his kits and the baggage and along with his
Coach reached the bout venue. He could
NOT get any time for WARMING
and HEATING his body. He straight
away wore his wrestling attires, and set for the fight. He fought
TOOTH – AND – NAIL and he lost his bout by a margin of
3-5 against his opponent. However by that time when he was down by 3-5 HE
GAVE UP THE FIGHT by throwing in the TOWEL as he was COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED due to lack
of rest and sleep.
A day of REST
followed for him , and in the fight for the BRONZE, he beat his much
famed rival .This time he beat the U.S.S.R wrestler and a FORMER WORLD CHAMPION, RASHID MAMMEDBEYOV
whom he beat for the match and the game for the
BRONZE That is how the story folded for this man who is
A FORGOTTEN man in the annals of the Indian sports.
He was awarded the LIFE
– TIME – ARJUNA in 2002 , for winning his BRONZE in 1952, when Mr Atal Behari Vajapayee was the
Prime Minister of this nation and it was Madam Uma Bharati who gave that honour
to him .This LIFE TIME AWARD OF ARJUNA ought to be conferred now as well under
the banner of the present Prime Minister immediately to JUSTIFY the means and to square off the
injustice meted to the sports personality.
There are many like Kasabha Jadhav as sports personality who
are wailing since 2014 for them to be conferred by this award.
A LIST OF SIXTEEN
SUCH ILLUSTRIOUS SPORTS PERSONALITY and their name as well as their
deeds has been submitted to the Ministry – BUT THEN WHO WILL AWAKE THE SLEEPING GIANTS
That I the question?.
Munnuswamy Venu ; THAT
WAS A PLAIN AND A CLEAR CASE OF CHEATING
BY THE OLYMPIC AUTHORITIES
Munnuswamy Venu ; THAT
WAS A PLAIN AND A CLEAR CASE OF CHEATING
BY THE OLYMPIC AUTHORITIES
This man who was TWICE considered as the BEST SCIENTIFIC
BOXER , first in the 1972 Munich Olympics, and
again in the 1974 COMMONWEALTH GAMES was the FIRST EVER INDIAN BOXER TO MAKE IT TO THE
QUARTER – FINALS OF THE OLYMPICS BOXING EVENT FOR INDIA.
Selected in the Indian contigent for the 1972 Olympics along
with Mehtab Singh and Chandra Narayan, Munnuswamy Venu first in the Pre –Quarters
defeated a British boxer by an convincing margin to move into the Quarter –
finals. In the Quarter – finals , he was to meet an Kenyan, Samuel Mbugua whom he had beaten in an
international boxing meet that was held at Thailand that year, in the KINGS
CUP at Bangkok.
In the Quarters that followed, the Kenyan boxer was handed
blows after blows by Venu and it was terrific to see him sustaining so many a
cuts and blows to carry on the fight. It was evidently clear that Venu had won
the fight.
However when the final verdict of the judges came out IT
WAS SO SURPRISING THAT THE KENYAN WAS DECLARED THE WINNER. For
the FIRST time in the annals of the Olympics, the
spectators who were watching the bouts came out so STRONGLY and took their feelings as well as
the protest vehemently and with all guns blazing. The infuriated spectators
broke many a seating chairs and threw at the Referee who were adjusting the
finals.
THE KENYAN BOXER CONCEDED A WALK OVER IN THE SEMIS
The Kenyan boxer was to meet the eventual GOLD
WINNER of that Olympics of the LIGHT WEIGHT category. That was the weight category that
Venu was fighting in. Such were the hard blows and the fist
of fury that Venu possessed and gave it to that boxer from Kenya
that it was very hard for him to absorb the blow. HE CONCEDED A WALK OVER to
his opponent in the semis. That he did it to
RECUPERATE AND RECOUP for his Bronze medal game or bout.
The Kenyan boxer after a day of rest, after fighting with
Venu, recuperated for the semis and went to win that bout. The manner in which
he received those blows by Venu was such that everybody who witnessed that bout
were of the opinion that actually Venu had won the bout but was made to lose.
The Indian contingent was in two mind to approach the
Technical Committee to hand in the protest, but the massacre of the ELEVEN ISRAELIS Olympians by the Palestine at
the Olympic village put an idea opposite to the idea that was formed about
protesting the conquest and look into the matter for the same. They were also
of the opinion that VENU IN REALITY HAD WON THE BOUT. The verdict of the
fight was WRONG and that was felt by everybody.
However in the last minutes the Indian delegates who were SHORT
of money to file the case to the Technical committee, decided to avoid
approaching the committee, as the required fees, then , to pay to the committee
for filing the case at the venue, which was about ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS
in those days was not there in the coffers of the Indian kitty wich never had
the money enough to face these kind of eventualities.
Venu thus was ROBBED of his RIGHT and the DUES , that belonged to him ,
ie , the BRONZE atleast, and one really
hopes that MADAM VINESH PHOGAT DOES NOT MEETS THE SAME FATE this
time.
Now I come to another controversy that completely HIT the
Indian Boxing and the Indian Boxing squad of that time were too wrecked to face
this situation. After this incident that took place, the entire Indian boxers squad
that represented India in the 1974 Asian Games that were held at Tehran, Iran ,
in this games , the Heavy – weight , division of the boxing finals was played
between Til Bahadur Bura and the Iranian boxer by the name of Abdolreza Andaveh ,
In the finals,
Bura was so devastating that he from the end of the first round, to the last
minutes of the last round , Bura literally outplayed his opponent in the finals .
RABBIT
PUNCHING :: THIS WEAPON OF BOXING WAS THEREAFTER REMOVED SINCE THEN
Now
– a – days, we see when we watch the boxing bouts, that the two opposite boxers
cling on to each other, to save them from the onslaught , and to some extent
waste the time. However during those days , the boxers would engage in RABBIT
PUNCHING. What is rabbit punching ?.
Rabbit
punching is a FLURRY of punches , when the boxers fighting against
each other, within a hand shaking distance use the punches like the moving
propeller , to hit one another,
in the stomach area, to separate each
other so that some distance is created between the two, and to prolong the
fight
Here in the rabbit punching , which I demonstrate here in
the picture, A BOXER CANNOT HIT THE OPPONENT IN ANY PART OF THE BODY EXCEPT THE
STOMACH AND THE HIT HAS TO BE ALWAYS OVER THE BELT.
The Iranian boxer was put into the shape and the size by Til
Bahadur Bura in such a manner that the Iranian was send to the canvas more
than thrice. The photograph pf the Iranian boxer is depicted here.
Acoording to the rules, if a boxer is send to the ropes thrice, the referee
after the count has to stop the fight and declare the winner about his victory
by TECHNICALITIES.
That was not done at all. By the match referee on that day. Instead the referee
continued the fight and the Iranian was allowed to prolong his fight.
Came the moment and everybody in the Indian camp and
especially the boxing contingent was elated and over happy. After all India was
going to get as GOLD in the boxing event. HOWEVER THAT WAS NOT TO BE. It was declared that TIL BAHADUR BURA WAS
DISQUALIFIED. THE REASON CITED WAS HE
HIT HIS IRANIAN OPPONENT UNDER THE BELT
AND THAT WAS THE REASON FOR THE IRANIAN BOXER TO GO TO THE CANVAS.
This decision
completely SHOOK the entire Indian
contingent. Those who were watching were stunned and had NO WORDS TO EXPLAIN. The condition
of Til Bahadur Bura was simply unbearbl.e He was from the Indian Army but this
case and the happening completely brutalized him to the hilt.
He was NOT PREPARED to sand on the podium,
when it was announced that he would get onlythe SILVER as he was disqualified
in the finals. Some better sense prevailed and the Indian boxer was made to
stand on the podium somehow to receive his medal.
A COMPLETELY BROKEN BURA
WAS SO SHATTERED THAT HE WAS NOT IN
THE FRAME OF MIND TO EVEN RECEIVE THE
MEDAL AND HE COULD NOT STAND PROPERLY
ON THE PODIUM.
When the Indian contingent returned from the games at India, the entire Indian contingent,
the boxers namely Munnuswamy Venu, Chandra Narayan Swamy and Mehtab Singh
announced their retirement from Indian Boxing and handed over their retirement
letter to the Services Sports Control Board, who handed those letters to the
Indian Boxing Federation.
All the threeboxers mentioned here were ILL TREATED AND
PURPOSELY made to lose in the Munich Olympics and in the Semis, the case of Venu is mentioned
here. The same was done to Chandra Narayan too when he was made to lose to his
Polish opponent by 2-3 in the second round of the Munich Olympics Mehtab Singh
too did not feel it proper to continue as he too was made to lose some of the bout which he played for India in
the Olympics and the Asian games
MEHTAB SINGH THEREFATER TOOK
PART IN AN OPEN INVITATION PROFESSIOSNAL BOXING TOURNAMENT AT U.S.A IN 1975 AND
HAD WON THE GOLD THERE. Amongst the best of the professional boxers
he won that GOLD but amongst the lowly ranked amateurs boxers he COULD NOT AND NEVER COULD HE WIN AN GOLD
FOR INDIA.
This demonstrates
about HOW THE INDIANS ARE ALWAYS ANDS WERE ALWAYS TRAETED IN BOXING IN THE
OPEN INTERNATIONAL CONTINENTAL EVENTS.
Sriram Singh Another case of HIGHLY ILL INFORMED and BURISH OFFICIALS
destroying a MEDAL of India
Sriram Singh Another case of HIGHLY ILL INFORMED and BURISH OFFICIALS
destroying a MEDAL of India
The 1976 Olympics held at Montreal saw the worst in the
annals of the Indian Olympic history. This time around it was NOT the official
of the organizing committee, but it was the Indian officials who are more than
everything else, are ILL-INFORMED about the law , all about the rules that
could be made use of the Technical committee, and the SPORTS SCIENCE that goes with it.
It happened with Sriram Singh in the 1976 Olympics and that
too before the finals. This Indian athlete from the Indian Army was a CLASS by himself as a runner
and as an athlete. Rarely are the class of this genre born at India and especially
in the athletics. His case was so very poorly handled by the Indian officials .
At Montreal in 1976, Sriram Singh, just when he landed at
the Olympics Games Vollage at Montreal he was plagued with ONE problem and that
was the food served at the games village. The kind of the food that was served
were ALL INTERCONTINENTAL and this man
was used to eating the INDIAN STUFF as the meals. This was the reason about him
losing his energy afterevery practice session at Montreal as the recuperation of
the energy could not be upto the mark because of the stuff and the problems of
the food at Montreal for Sriram
To compensate Sriram started taking the breads and the
juices in plenty washed down by the glass of the milk, however the SOLID
STUFF that are so necessary as the food to regain the calories of
heat in the body was missing and that was making his life a bit tedious in the
games village.
In the heats after the heats that followed, Sriram kept moving up and in every heats he would finish at the second or the third position and in the semis of the heats, he finished at the second position to move into the finals
There was that which anybody could not understand that would
happen. After the heats were over and after reaching the finals, Sriram felt
that he was not in the proper shape of his mind and the body was making him
uncomfortable. He brought it to the notice of the Indian official who were as
good as DONKEYS that was assisting the Indian team for this
Olympics. They checked Sriram and gave him some
ANACIN pill
thinking that the body temperature would be done away with the pills.
To make the matter
worst THEY ADVISED SRIRAM NOT TO
TAKE ANY SOILD STUFF FOR THE FOOD INTAKE BUT TO BE ON THE FRUIT JUICE.
That was another mistake. Sriram however was not convinced. He met the Coach of
the American decathelete , Mr Bruce Jenner and asked for
his help. The American coach was right saying that HE HAS AND HE HAD NO RIGHTS TO TAKE CARE
OF THE INDIAN OR ANY OTHER ATHLETE AS THAT WAS AGAINST THE GOVERNING LAW AND
THAT COULD BE DETRIMENTAL TO HIM IF TAKEN NOTE OR SERIOUSLY BY THE OLYMPICS
ORGANISING COMMITTEE.
His condition started growing WORST during the night.
The Indian doctors without knowing the DEMONISH FACTS of the SAUNA
BATH treated him with that. THIS
COMPLETELY WENT AGAISNST THE BODY TEMPERATURE OF SRIRAM WHO WAS UNDER THE
EFFECT OF BODY TEMPERATURE.
He developed severe pain in the body overnight Next in the
finals with all the disadvantage to Sriram he came to the track to compete in
the finals and the race. With all the negativity that encircled him , Sriram
without ant SOLID food material
in his body and without any good medicine to rough his negativity of the
physical conditions, started the race.
He took and early lead and he led the race for 650 metres.
The world famous Cuban ALBERTO JUANTORENA was stunned He was the OVERAL FAVOURITE to win this one. Looking into Sriram
spurting, Juantorena changed his gears and he took the lead to get past Sriram.
By that time Sriram was FINISHED.
The body had NOTHING left in him to give it out and bear. He
started falling back and he fell back one by one to his rivals to finish
SEVENTH but he had in the process BROKEN the ASIAN GAMES RECORD by then
which stood in his name as he had set that record for himself in the Tehrad
Asiad in 1974.
That was SURE
BET MEDAL WHICH INDIA LOST IN 1976 The Indian contingent was so
upset for hisloss in the finals. If only the Indian doctors had approached the
medics of the games village and could have subjected him to the correct and appropriate
medicine , perhaps Sriram Singh would have been in a better shape to win and
maybe he could have won a medal for India in the 1976 Olympics.
HE WAS A SURE BET OF A MEDAL
WOINNER IN THE 800 METRES RUN AT MONTREAL but the inadequate
knowledge of the Indian doctors and the Indian Technical delegates DUG
India for the same. This is the manner that India keeps on losing the medals at the INTERNATIONAL MEETS AND THE GAMES.
After the race was over, Juantorena himself went to Sriram ,
to congratulate him, saying that IF NOT HIS LEAD IN THE FIRST 650 METRES,
HE WOULD NOT HAVE WON THE RACE BY BREAKING THE WORLD RECORD.
Also in this case, if somebody from the Indian Technical
delegate, if they had approached some Indians settled at Momtreal, and had
requested them to prepare some homemade Indian food for Sriram , perhaps the
state of the affairs could have been different for Sriram .
However this is how India keeps on losing medals after
medals in the crunch moment of the Olympics and for the NEGLIGIENCE that the Indian Official
display it is hopeless to feel that India does anything correct when it comes
to the selection process.
Manoj Kumar ;;
Another Whimsical Manner And Another Tale Of High Handedness
Last but not the least has been the case of Indian pugilist
Manoj Kumar .His was a case of PURE
CHEATING applied by the American contingent of Boxing in the London Olympics
and the ONE SIDED FEARING VERDICT that was thrown as the spanner
to the Indian boxer Manoj Kumar.
In the London Olympics in 2012 boxer Mnoj Kumar was against
an American boxer who was something of a GREAT quality as a boxer for
America and that he was such that he would be the WORLD CHAMPION in the days to
come for ther American if he transhifted into the world of professional boxing.
Drawn to meet Manoj Kumar in the very first round, Manoj
using all his brute and the might, beat him 16-15 in the very
first round to move into the next.
THIS WAS TOO MUCH OF A SUGAR
COATED PILL for the American to swallow. They could not DIGEST
the fact that an American can lose to any Indian in the boxing and
that too in the very first round .They moved to the protest arena of the Technical
Committee, of the Olympics organisers, and filed a protest to again have a look
at the fight and recount the points.
They paid a hefty fee for the same and got the verdict
reverted in favour of them Thus ended Manoj’s career in boxing. None of the
official assisting the Indian contingent, including the CHIEF – DE – MISSION
could do anything, or they were interested to anything when the decision was
reversed.
THIS IS HOW THE ENTIRE NATION ACTS WHEN AN INDIAN OLYMPIAN OR ANY
ATHLETE FACES THE IRE IN THE MOST CRUELEST MANNER BY THE ORGANISNG COMMITTEE OF
THE GAMES AT ABROAD
This retells so much and so many about the facts that are
nothing but the truth that an Indian sportsman , or the sports personality faces when he or she is thrown
to the inter continental meet at any place in the world. They are left with no
support to fend it for them.
I HOPE THE CASE OF VINESH PHOGAT IS THE " REVOLTION " THAT IT BRINGS AS AN EXAMPLE OF
INDIAN VICTORY ON BAD DECISION ON THE INDIAN ATHLETE SERVED BY THE GAMES ORGANISERS
If that medal comes , a SILVER , then it would be a START of the REVOLUTION that would come to India and Indian sports. However the LIFE = TIME Awards too ought to be implemented atleast in the case of about 120 sportsman and women in particular
Mr Shyamal Bhattacharjee, the author was born at West Chirimiri Colliery at District Surguja, Chattisgarh on July 6th 1959 He received his early education at Carmel Convent School Bishrampur and later at Christ Church Boys' Higher Secondary School at Jabalpur. He later joined Hislop College at Nagpur and completed his graduation in Science and he also added a degree in B A thereafter. He joined the HITAVADA, a leading dailies of Central India at Nagpur as a Sub-Editor ( Sports ) but gave up to complete his MBA in 1984 He thereafter added a Diploma In Export Management. He has authored SEVEN books namely Notable Quotes and Noble Thought on Management , Politics , Peace and War , published by Pustak Mahal in 2001 Indian Cricket : Faces That Changed It published by Manas Publications in 2009 and Essential Of Office Management published by NBCA, Kolkatta in 2012, GOLDEN QUOTES on INSPIRATION , SORROW , PEACE and LIFE published by B.F.C Publications, Lucknow, , and QUOTES:: Evolution and Origin of Management Electives by Clever Fox Publishing, Chennai ,From Dhyan To Dhan :: Indian Hockey - Sudden Death Or Extra Time published by BOOKS CLINIC Publishing House , Bilaspur , Chattisgarh and his FIRST book on Hindi poem, which reads as " BHED HAI GEHRA - BAAT JARA SI " published by Books Clinics , Bilaspur , Chhattisgarh. He has a experience of about 35 years in Marketing , and Business Analytics .
It is really tough to write these long-researched columns. Tells us in many ways, the author's command on the subject and patience in willingness to learn.
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