The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : IOA invites Usha for Olympic Torch relay

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Tuesday, Jun 08, 2004

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Sport - Olympic Games

IOA invites Usha for Olympic Torch relay

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 7. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Suresh Kalmadi, has invited P. T. Usha to join the Olympic Torch Relay here on June 10.

Mr. Kalmadi told a press conference here on Monday that he was making efforts to get Usha to the Capital on Thursday so that she could be part of the memorable occasion.

He also said that he was also keen to ensure Milkha Singh's participation in the relay.

Late on Monday night, Usha, however, clarified from her Payyoli residence that no one from IOA or any other organisation had contacted her.

Usha, the greatest woman athlete India has had, was ignored by the IOA for this historic occasion, coming to Delhi after a gap of 40 years. The IOA had also ignored many a stalwart of yesteryears while drawing up a list of 30 sportspersons.

Mr. Kalmadi said the IOA was handicapped by the limited quota allocated to it. He claimed that all the chosen sports personalities were Arjuna Award winners but he could not provide an answer as to why the limited number of World champions India had produced, were not being invited. It was pointed out to him that the country had hundreds of Arjuna Award winners and that in itself could not have been the qualification for such an important event.

Mr. Kalmadi said it was beyond the control of the IOA to look into the lists drawn up by the sponsors, Coca Cola and Samsung.

Adding to the IOA embarrassment, well-known broadcaster, Jasdev Singh, on Monday pointed out that he was not being invited to even attend the closing function at the National Stadium on Thursday, leave alone being included in the relay.

With nine Olympics coverage behind him, not to speak of the only Olympic Order bestowed on a broadcaster in this country, Jasdev felt that he had the credentials to be included in the list of relay runners when so many non-sportspersons were being roped in.

With his vast experience over such ceremonies and his unquestionable skills in live Hindi commentary, Jasdev was prepared to take over the microphone again, if only to bring in nostalgia during a rare event, but the IOA has so far not responded despite his pleas.

There are four media personalities in the Samsung list, but it does not contain a single sports journalist or a broadcaster with Olympics background.

The IOA list:

Suresh Kalmadi (President, IOA, Asian Athletics Association, Athletics Federation of India); Randhir Singh (IOC member, trap shooter, represented India in six Olympics), Ajitpal Singh, M. P. Ganesh, Zafar Iqbal, Ashok Kumar, Aslam Sher Khan and M. K. Kaushik (hockey); Dharmender Singh Yadav and Raj Kumar Sangwan (boxing), Dinesh Khanna and Madhumita Bisht (badminton), Manjit Dua (table tennis), Khajan Singh (swimming); Bhim Singh, Hari Chand, Sriram Singh, Milkha Singh, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, Adille Sumariwala and Asha Aggarwal (athletics); Amar Singh (cycling); Satpal (wrestling); Jaspal Rana, Mansher Singh, Morad Ali Khan and Gurbir Singh Sandhu (shooting); Rajinder Singh Bhanwala (rowing); Santosh Yadav (mountaineering) and Gaurav Natekar (tennis). — Our Special Correspondent

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