Asian Athletics Championships: more Sports, less Politics

Bhaskar Parichha

All in all, the Asian Athletics Championship was more of games and less of political blame-game. That was a big reprieve in an otherwise charged atmosphere.

The successful hosting the just concluded 22nd edition of the Asian Athletics Championships (AAC) at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar will be remembered for many reasons. For one, the Odisha government proved that it can do wonders if given a chance.

Secondly, Creating sports infrastructure in just 90 days and meeting the tough yardsticks of International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was no mean achievement.

After Maharashtra and Jharkhand backed out, it fell to the good fortune of Odisha and the Naveen Patnaik government took up the challenge in right earnest. One’s loss is another’s gain, as they say.

Ahead of the opening ceremony of the 22nd Asian Athletic Championship here, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik described it as a historic day for the state.

“Tomorrow marks a historic day for #Odisha. The #AAC 2017 will get going, signalling state’s emergence as a strong force in global sports arena,” Patnaik had tweeted.

With Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik himself at the wheel – this was never seen in the past – his administration and the team of five-six top bureaucrats ensured that everything went perfectly well: from grass-turfing to laying new synthetic tracks at the Kalinga Stadium.

The IAAF chief Sebastian Coe was clearly impressed, if not bewildered, to see such a big thing happening. Coe described the facilities as “world-class”.

Playing host to over 800 athletes from 45 nations in such a short duration was certainly a daunting task, but the Odisha government cleared the test with flying colours. Odisha is now a rising sports powerhouse and the possibilities are immense.

The hosting of AAC busted a couple of myths too: the general inertia of the government machinery and the laid-back attitude of the bureaucracy. After effectively handling the Cyclone Phailin by carrying out one of the biggest human evacuation exercise, the government was much-admired by international agencies. And now comes this recognition as a state with tremendous sporting clout.

After the AAC 2017 two more international events are coming up: the men’s hockey World League Final in December and the men’s Hockey World Cup, next year.

Meaningfully, the Asian Athletics Championships was not a once in a lifetime act and Bhubaneswar along with Cuttack are going to be two major sporting venues in India.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik pulled yet another surprise by felicitating the Indian athletes, who won medals at the athletics meet. While gold medal winners received Rs 10 lakh each, silver medalists got Rs 7.5 lakh and bronze medalists Rs 5 lakh. Money matters that’s what governments should understand.

“Despite the fact that we had less than three months to make the necessary arrangements and preparations for the championship, we met the challenge”, said the Chief Minister at the cash-giving event.

Post-ateletics, the CM has announced a plan to set up the Kalinga International Sports City in Bhubaneswar to organize mega international events in the future. Aspiring to convert Bhubaneswar as a sports city, the government is unlikely to rest till it hosts international competitions such as the Commonwealth Games, 2018. Satellite stadiums with world-class infrastructure will also be set up in Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela.

All in all, the Asian Athletics Championship was more of games and less of political blame-game. That was a big reprieve in an otherwise charged atmosphere.

(The writer is a senior journalist and currently associated with OdishaLIVE as Consulting Editor. You can share your comment with him at content(@)odisha(dot)live)