The Hindu : Sport : Catch them young, but not so young: P.T. Usha

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Sport

Sport - Sports : General

Catch them young, but not so young: P.T. Usha

Principal Correspondent

KOZHIKODE: Last year, during an All-India athletics meet in Bhubaneswar, P.T. Usha had to answer what she thought was a rather strange question when the local reporters asked her to comment on a three-year-old competing in a 40-km marathon race.

Shocked

"I was shocked to hear that, and told them that a three-year-old shouldn't even be allowed to run a 100m race, let alone marathon," Usha told The Hindu on Tuesday. She was in for a bigger shock when she saw on television last Tuesday the same kid — four-and-half-year-old Budhia Singh — finishing a race of 65km, from Puri to Bhubaneswar. "I was horrified," she said, "and felt sad for the boy too. You simply cannot make a four-year-old boy run long distances; in fact you should be at least 12 to train for even the spring events. It's extremely hazardous for Budhia's own health. Being an athlete I know how much physical endurance one needs even to run a 400m race. And I'm talking of grown-ups."

Welcome move

She said she was happy that the Orissa government has now come forward to stop Budhia from running. "Catching them young is a good idea yes, but not so young," she said. "I myself am training young girls at my Usha School of Athletics, where we admit only 12-year-olds. And girls mature physically sooner than boys, mind you. If people still want Budhia to be a marathon runner, they should wait until he turns 15, I feel."

Usha said you wouldn't find Budhias in developed countries. "Because people there are educated about sports, whereas here many are not. That's why we celebrated his `feat', though, thankfully, the euphoria didn't last long. I'm glad that wiser sense prevailed in the end."

She said she would be delighted if Budhia did become an athlete eventually, with proper training and all. "But let him grow up first; let him play for fun now."

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