Pakistan had a horrible showing at the Beijing Olympics 2008. We failed to come close to, let along win a medal during the games. Something, our highly paid sports bodies need to have a close look at and be shameful of the next time they go scandulously extravagant vacations and trips all paid for by the tax payer.
But we did have something to be happy about at the Paralympics also held in Beijing soon after the Olympics were over and the reason for that happiness was Haider Ali, an athletic who suffers from Cerebral Palsy made his country proud when he won a Silver Medal for his feat at the long jump competition on 9 Sept at the Beijing Paralymics.
His endeavour though, equal to that of the Gold Medal winner, a Tunisian, who ran the same distance that of 6.44 meters, Haider was chosen as the runner up as he was rejected for one of his five jumps during the preliminary rounds. But nonetheless, he managed to do what many his able-bodied counterparts couldn’t achieve just a few weeks prior to his competion – win a Olympics Medal at Beijing.
However, the saddest part is that unlike the other sports persons, there is no annoucement till date from either the Pakistani Olympic sporting bodies or the Government regarding any prize money for our hero. If he had been a cricker or from any other sport, or even a able-bodied olympic athlete, he would by now had been showered with enough accolades and money to last him a life-time. But being an optimist, I can only assume that the great news hasn’t yet reached among those at the higher echelons of power.
Picture and text courtesy of http://www.doodhpattiblog.com/
But we did have something to be happy about at the Paralympics also held in Beijing soon after the Olympics were over and the reason for that happiness was Haider Ali, an athletic who suffers from Cerebral Palsy made his country proud when he won a Silver Medal for his feat at the long jump competition on 9 Sept at the Beijing Paralymics.
His endeavour though, equal to that of the Gold Medal winner, a Tunisian, who ran the same distance that of 6.44 meters, Haider was chosen as the runner up as he was rejected for one of his five jumps during the preliminary rounds. But nonetheless, he managed to do what many his able-bodied counterparts couldn’t achieve just a few weeks prior to his competion – win a Olympics Medal at Beijing.
However, the saddest part is that unlike the other sports persons, there is no annoucement till date from either the Pakistani Olympic sporting bodies or the Government regarding any prize money for our hero. If he had been a cricker or from any other sport, or even a able-bodied olympic athlete, he would by now had been showered with enough accolades and money to last him a life-time. But being an optimist, I can only assume that the great news hasn’t yet reached among those at the higher echelons of power.
Picture and text courtesy of http://www.doodhpattiblog.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment