Andhra Pradesh - Eluru   

Sprinting for a square meal a day

Gopisetti Satyanarayana Rao

ELURU: For 83-year-old Gopisetti Satyanarayana Rao, whose name is quite often talked about in the sports field for over five decades, winning medals is a child’s play. However, getting a square meal a day appears to be out of his reach.

“Gopisetti Mastaru”, as he is widely known in the town, is an ace athlete with more than 100 gold and silver medals to his credit. For the octogenarian sportsman who served the country during World War II prior to taking up a job as physical education teacher, age is no barrier to shine in sports. But abject poverty and poor patronage from the government pain him.

The veteran athlete wages a grim battle to take care of his ailing wife and himself. Living in a dingy rented house on for a monthly rent of Rs. 600 near Gajjalavarichervu in I-Town, he is running from pillar to post for an Indiramma house. “I get a monthly pension of Rs. 5,000. A major portion of it goes towards treatment expenses for my wife, a heart patient,” says Mastaru.

He joined the army in 1945 when World War II was at its peak and was posted as a havaldar clerk at Jabalpur. He had to return home in 1948 following denial of leave by the higher-ups for his marriage.

He got a posting as a physical education teacher at Subbammadevi Municipal High School in the early 50s and his name was first heard in the athletics field in 1953 when he won a silver medal at an athletics meet in Vijayawada. From then on, there was no looking back for him. “I have as many as 122 silver and gold medals to my credit. This is the result of my five decade-long grit and determination,” says a gleeful Gopisetti Mastaru.

The medals he won are in recognition of his stunning success at the State, national and even international levels, which include the Asian Veteran Athletic Meets held in Bangalore in 2000 and 2006.

Age and penury fail to deter him from participating in the Asian Masters’ Athletics Meet scheduled to be held in Thailand in November 2008 for which his name has been shortlisted from the State.

Similarly, he was also chosen for the National Masters Athletics Meet slated to be held in Haryana in March, 2009. “No doubt, I will surely win a gold medal in both the events,” says a brimming Mastaru.

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