Once Olympic hopeful, Bauri now stares at uncertain future
NEWDELHI:THREE years ago, Chandan Bauri, a farm labourer’s son from West Bengal’s Hooghly district, caused ripples in Indian athletics when he won the 400m bronze in the 2015 National Games at Kerala, clocking 47.1 secs. Bauri, now 20, was considered a Rio Olympics hopeful and was drafted into the senior squad.
However, as 2019 approaches, excitement and optimism has given way to gloom. After suffering a groin injury during the 2016 Olympics preparatory camp in Poland, Bauri suddenly found himself without any meaningful support from Athletics Federation of India that had fast-tracked him to senior ranks. He now stares at an uncertain future without financial or medical support.
While javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, sprinter Hima Das and high-jumper from Delhi Tejaswin Shankar have shown Indian talent can rise if guided properly, Bauri has had no such luck.
Bauri’s coach, Rajdeep Karak, blames AFI for his ward’s plight. “When he was winning, I was flooded with calls from AFI asking me to send Chandan to the national camp. Since he got injured, no one has called,” he said over phone from Hooghly.
Rehabilitation is expensive and beyond the means of Bauri. His father died when he was a toddler and his mother brought him up. “It’s difficult for a daily wage earner to support her son. At times, Bauri feels he should work in the farm to support his mother,” said Karak. “I’m trying to support him so that he can train and excel again.”
Chief national coach Bahadur Singh said, “We’ve tried to contact him but he doesn’t respond to phone calls. We don’t know what he is doing.”
In 2015, Bauri equalled the junior national record of 46.99 secs to win Commonwealth Youth Games bronze in Samoa. He also set 100m and 200m records in National School Games (U-17 category). “It helped him earn a scholarship from ONGC. But ONGC discontinued it after four months because Bauri didn’t participate in the departmental meet as he was in the national camp,” said Karak. “Since he was fit, it didn’t hurt much then. But with no income now, Bauri is feeling the pinch.”
In June, 2016, Bauri ran in his last international meet — Asian Junior Championships, Vietnam — where he clocked 49.04 sec in the first round of 400m. He was disqualified in the semis. He returned to the national camp in Poland and soon got injured.
Singh said that though Bauri was a talented runner he was “reluctant” to come to Patiala for the national camp.
This year, Bauri participated in the National Inter-state Championships in Guwahati but was a pale shadow of his former self. “Just checking how fast I can run with 25% training,” he had said after the 200m heats.
Olympian heptathlete Soma Biswas recently came to Bauri’s help. Thanks to her, Bauri is getting medical and financial assistance. “It’s helped cut down on the expenses,” said Karak.
Bauri now wants to start running full throttle again. “We’ll start the moment we get the nod from the doctor,” said Karak.