It's a familiar tune before the Olympics — sports officials, government grants firmly on their mind, claiming that their athletes will win big at the Games.Thankfully, officials are refraining this time from picking a figure out of the air. Instead, the sports ministry has instituted a preparation committee for Athens headed by VK Malhotra, chairman of the All-India Council of Sports, the ministry’s advisory body.But though Malhotra, who met reporters last week, didn’t talk medals, neither did he give any indication that things are in order. There’s no advance selection or prior planning for the training of athletes, sending them abroad for important meets and finding sponsors for their expenditure as in other countries.Malhotra revealed that his committee has received assurance from the ‘‘highest quarters’’ that money would not be a problem in providing athletes with the best training facilities — as long as it was spent well.Ideally, the preparation committee should have been formed just after the 2000 Olympics and should have identified the medal hopefuls then, focusing on a small group of athletes shortlisted out of all the disciplines.Malhotra wouldn’t have had to look very far to identify them. Long jumper Anju George, the only Indian to win a medal at the world level, is struggling for funds for her training. Ideally, the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) should have picked up Anju four years ago and groomed her for the Olympics — they didn’t, and she made it on her own steam.So, 17 years after PT Usha won four golds at the 1986 Asian Games, the AAFI has not sent any top athlete for competition in the European Grand Prix. Neighbouring athletes from Sri Lanka have already made a mark in athletics in World Championship and Olympics.But, as Malhotra said, the money will ‘‘be available’’. The bulk of the money for training and coaching will come from public funds — the sports ministry has earmarked Rs 10 crore for preparation other than daily expenditure on training of athletes. The daily diet allowance for each athlete in the national camp was recently hiked from Rs 100 to 180.Interestingly, with the Games nine months away, the powers that be have decided to seek foreign coaching help. A ‘‘reputed’’ sports psychologist will interact with the archers in Italy at the European Grand Prix meet in April, apart from other coaches, whose names are being finalised. ‘‘The psychologist will be with the archers for a few days. It will be very expensive to hire one who will stay till the Games,’’ said Malhotra.Though a late move, it could have beneficial effects. The archers in the camp are suffering from low morale, mainly because of uncertainty over their future. ‘‘Every time I hold the bow, I wonder whether doing this will fetch me a permanent job and money. Even after being among the top archers for the last couple of years, I don’t have a job,’’ said one archer at the national camp in New Delhi.
