Usha calls for strict action against defaulters

As the celebrations continue over the country’s maiden Thomas Cup badminton triumph, one felt it was a good time to have a look at how much Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold at the Tokyo Olympics has changed Indian athletics.

“Small developments have happened but I don’t think there is a massive change,” said P.T. Usha in a chat with Sportstar.

“Neeraj’s gold has inspired youngsters, made them believe that they could win Olympic medals too. But we should be able to maintain that tempo.”

Kiren Rijiju, the then Sports Minister, inaugurated the Centralised Athlete Injury Management System last year but many top stars still seem to be carrying mysterious injuries and avoiding competitions.

“We don’t understand the injuries. Of course, injuries are a part of sport but it’s not nice if people say they are injured all the time,” said Usha, one of the greats of Indian sport. We should work towards prevention of injuries, our injury management system should be top class.”

“There should be a system in place to consistently monitor such athletes. Such missing athletes should not be allowed in major competitions for six months as a sort of punishment, Usha added.