G Rajaraman
There was only one problem. Perhaps unforeseen.
The 20-year-old athlete’s motivational speech packed all the elements to touch the even the heartless –triumph against all odds, bullying, body-shaming, nepotism by unscrupulous officials and an unbreakable bond with the sport. If it was meant to shock the audience of doctors and draw its sympathy and appreciation, it seemed to have hit bull’s eye.
Indeed, there was only one problem. An inspired soul posted a video of the speech and soon many holes appeared in the ‘inspirational’ story that some of the best athletes in the sport were left flabbergasted. Not only were their achievements trifled with but also a sorry image is now being created about athletes and the challenges they face in the journey.
Let us first take in what the athlete said while keeping her name her and her sport unidentified.
“In every sport in India, we know that there is politics. I would like to share a small story. Recently, there was the Asian Games… in 2021. What happens in any of these events that there is an A qualification standard and B qualification standard. Till now no Indian has met the A qualification standard. B qualification was close by and even I was one of them.
“There were two other boys who B was close by. Technically I was supposed to be in the team. There was a camp in Delhi. I had my 10th Standard Board exams, which was very important as everyone knows. We wrote a letter to the Federation seeking permission to take the examinations instead of attending the camp. They said it was okay.
“When the team was announced my name was not there. Instead of me, another girl from north India was included. Then we went to the Federation and asked why it was happening. I had the most points and had the best performance. They said the two boys who were selected were from south India and this girl is from Gujarat where the Federation is based in.
“(We were told) ‘How much will you south Indians swim? Leave some space for the North Indians.’ We asked how that can happen. They said they conducted trials in the camp and since I didn’t attend the camp. I told them that I had taken their permission but they did not listen and that is how I did not make it to the Asian Games.
“I was among the probables for the 2020 Olympic Games but something similar happened,” she said.
Anyone unfamiliar with the sport would likely fall hook, line and sinker. More so, since the athlete painted a stellar picture of herself. She said she was the only athlete to have represented India in two World Championships. She claimed she was now ranked World No. 16 in her event. She said she had eight gold medals in Asian age-group competitions.
Some of the doctors in the audience last week possibly did buy the story, gauging from the applause. However, anyone who knows sport, not just the discipline, would have wondered which Asian Games was held in 2021. And those who know the sport will quickly tell you that a lot of what the athlete-turned-doctor-to-be said was not based in the truth.
Of course, allegations that seniors locked up the athlete in the change room or pinched her in places where bruises could not be seen in public need to be investigated. The more serious accusations that seniors body-shamed the athlete and tried to drown her in a pool has to be taken up by the Federation and provide the athlete with necessary mental health support.
However, the last known national-level competition for this athlete was the 2020 Khelo India Youth Games in Guwahati. So which Asian Games in 2021 is she was talking about? And since the Tokyo Olympic Games was in 2021, was she even in the reckoning for a place in the Indian squad without competing since January 2020?
Also when you consider that no Indian woman athlete in this discipline has competed in an Asian Games since 2006, you know that this story about being dropped from the Asian Games squad in favour of a north Indian athlete is nothing more a figment of imagination and a creation of self-pity.
The fact is that no Indian – and there are three who have better performances that the girl making the claim – is among the top 200 in the event in Asia, let alone in the world. It is also a fact that this athlete did not have a podium finish in the Asian Age-group competition held in 2019 in Bengaluru. And was not part of the squad in the 2017 edition held in Tashkent.
What are some reasons an athlete – and a doctor-to-be – would make up such stories before an august gathering of doctors? Sometimes attention-seekers may indulge in creating myths. The thrill of it all is perhaps one cause but two other reasons spring to mind as the more plausible in this instance: Gaining others’ sympathy and wanting to impress them.
It is possible that this athlete would not have anticipated someone recording her talk and posting on social media for the world to see and hear. These days when even drawing room gossip finds its way to public eyes and ears, it is a no-brainer that one must always be guarded about what one says and does.
There is a responsibility that athletes – and ex-athletes – have towards their sport and everyone else around them. In fact, that is true for everyone in the sports ecosystem. That responsibility must never be sacrificed at the altar of grandstanding to earn either applause of an audience or ‘likes’ on social media or sympathy of the people at large.
Yet, at a time when mental health issues are being spoken of with more candour in Indian sport than before, it is important that red-flagging is done with care and respect for others. Such deception will make everyone wary of pleas for help. Surely, nobody needs reminding of the risks, even if one has not read ‘The Boy who Cried Wolf’ in the Aesop’s Fable.