Elite athletes await clear guidelines to start training
BLUES With sports federations yet to receive directives, athletes wait out an anxious Monday
nNEW DELHI: A day after the union home ministry allowed sports activities without fans in stadiums as part of lockdown 4.0, elite athletes and coaches in the country awaited on Monday for more clarity on the guideline from the sports ministry to resume training. Athletes staying in isolation at the Sports Authority of India centres in Patiala and Bengaluru did not resume training as they awaited a green light from the authorities.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted in the evening that suggested the athletes can end their almost two-month wait. However, specifics about how the training facilities would be opened up for the Olympicsbound athletes are awaited.
“I am happy to inform sportspersons and all concerned that sports activities will be conducted in sports complexes and stadia strictly in accordance with MHA guidelines and that of the states in which they are situated. However, use of gyms and swimming pools are still prohibited,” Rijiju tweeted.
Around 50 athletes and nine lifters are stuck to their rooms at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, since the lockdown began on March 25. The hockey squads of 24 players each with their 14-member support staff are at the SAI centre in Bengaluru. “We were asked by SAI officials to wait for guidelines from the (sports) ministry,” said an NIS Patiala coach.
A SAI panel has drafted the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for resumption of training, but the coaches at the two centres are yet to receive it. “We have been in touch with our fednational eration but they have not received it. We are waiting to see the training protocols to be followed,” said another coach.
Top sprinters, Dutee Chand and Amiya Mallick, the 100m national record holders, though were allowed to train on the synthetic track at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar during the lockdown.
“We could continue training, in the morning and evening, as the Odisha government let us use the facilities. We’ve been training in isolation, and sanitise equipment in the gym before use. Since international and domestic competitions were cancelled, the focus and intensity of training were changed, step-by-step,” said Chand on Monday.
A coach supervising the sessions said: “As elite athletes are preparing for the Olympics, Chand and Mallick were allowed to train.”
Chand said she endured mental turmoil as the Olympics was postponed and all sports activity came to a halt, but her personal coach, N Ramesh, motivated her to resume.
“The focus was on achieving the Olympic 100m qualification time of 11.15 secs. I began to train with high intensity, but the Olympics got postponed and that made me change my schedule. I’m into off-season work doing endurance training as the next competition is four months away (in September),” said Chand, whose personal best of 11.22 secs was set at Ranchi in October.
Mallick too is into off-season workouts. “Being an international athlete, adapting to new circumstances isn’t new,” he said. “I’m working on small muscle groups that would help me get stronger, stay injury free and run faster when competitions resume.”
Hockey India said it awaited further “suitable guidelines and approvals” from the sports ministry and SAI to resume the camps.
Chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand said he cannot open his academy in Hyderabad until there is more clarity on the home ministry guidelines.
“I was a little confused after the announcement yesterday (Sunday). I realised it didn’t have any impact on us because it says stadia/sports complexes to open whereas ours is a training academy/training institution as per protocol. So, we are waiting for government guidelines on it,” he said.
Gopichand said once he gets the go ahead, he will begin training with just eight players, and that all health precautions will be taken. “If the government (centre and state) gives a go ahead we will follow all precautions and start training. No doubt there will be fears. Parents will be worried to send their kids for training. We have to be cautious because it involves travel, sanitising the venues, maintaining social distancing, everything… SAI has come out with SOP which is pretty comprehensive and we will follow that,” he said.
Top athletes who train with personal coaches in academies too are seeking definite guidelines. Paddler G Sathiyan, who trains under former national champion S Raman in Chennai, is eager to resume training.
“There is no clear instruction on who will be allowed or which areas (red, orange, green) will be allowed. I even called up SDAT (Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu) but they said they will speak to the state government and will let me know,” said Sathiyan. “It is not safe to travel now for national camps. I have a great set up here so I would like to train here.”