Message 4 to Athletic Federation of India

SAI Meeting

In continuation to my earlier messages, I have to further submit the following. I understand that TOP Committee made the selection of athletes for TOP program based on their past record and not based on present performances. While this may not have made much difference in the case of most of the athletes, as they are pursuing the same sport and same item for several years, in the case of OP Jaisha this has made a significant difference. Jaisha switched over to marathon at the instance ofher coach barely 6 months back and since then she participated in only one marathon i.e. SCMM in January 2015. However, the fact remains that she broke 20 year old record on her debut which is unprecedented, unparalled and amazing in the annals of athletic history. As per AFI’s information and monitoring, she is one of the finestathletes today and improving regularly, but for others there is no evidence in black and white to show her consistent progress because she did not participate in any official marathon meet since then. Selection based on past record may prove faulty, irrational and illogical in some cases. A classic example is the selection of Yuvaraj Singh by the Delhi Daredevils Team based on his spectacular past records. The astronomical amount of Rs 16 crores paid by the team to acquire him proved too costly as cost of one run works out to Rs 8.5 lacs. Jaisha’s timing in the debut performance cannot be taken as yardstick for her selection to TOP as there will be considerable improvement from the debut timings. Variation or improvement from the previous record may be minimal in the case of those athletes who have been practicing the same item for several years. I am a 65 year old half marathoner and I clocked 2:44.0 on my debut and my latest timing is 2:14:43. I am sending a table showing my performance record along with full details which can be verified from the net. Therefore, it appears that an inadvertent misjudgment of facts has been made in the case of Jaisha.A God sent golden opportunity has come in the way of AFI in the form of another crucial meeting to reconsider the left out candidates and I am sure that AFI will not allow slipping this opportunity by fiercely fighting her case to include her in TOP programme. The meeting which was scheduled to be held on 22^nd (not 19^th as wrongly mentioned in my previous message) has been postponed.  A fauxpas happened earlier should not be allowed to repeat.

Wishing all the best to Jaisha, AFI and the sports fans of the country.

E M Adithyan

23^rdMay 2015.