India's athletes will benefit with new athlete-centric IOA, feel Olympic medallists

Some of India’s top sportspersons are now part of the Indian Olympic Association and feel the move to include athletes in administration will usher in a new era for Indian sport.

Led by one of the country’s greatest athletes PT Usha as president of the IOA, the likes of Olympic medallists Gagan Narang, Yogeshwar Dutt, MC Mary Kom, table tennis star Achanta Sharath Kamal, former tennis player and Davis Cup captain Rohit Rajpal and Olympian Dola Banerjee are all part of the executive committee.

“This is a new beginning for sports administration in India. Half of IOA's executive body are sportspersons and PT Usha is president. This is a big change and Indian sports will benefit from it,” said Yogeshwar Dutt, the 2012 Olympics bronze medallist. Dutt is one of the eight Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit selected by the Athletes Commission. He and Dola Banerjee are nominated to the executive committee.

“We athletes have seen many ups and downs in our career. We never complain and we keep working with a positive mindset. We are hopeful that something good will happen. As athletes our only aim was to give good perfomances for the country and now here we will do our best.”

“I know Indian athletes face many problems — accommodation, travelling. I have gone through it. We would want them to play freely without taking any such external pressure. Many things have to be changed and we sportspersons will share our experiences,” said Dutt. Also part of the Athletes Commission is PV Sindhu. The two-time Olympic medallist hailed the election of Usha as IOA president.

“She is a legend in athletics. She is also a Member of Parliament. I think this is something new for the sport. She will definitely do well," Sindhu said.

"It is a really good thing (first time a woman heading the IOA) because she will understand the needs of sportspersons.

Being an Athletes Commission member, it is important to understand what sport is. I would like to understand what they feel and what they need and do my bit to encourage them and support them," she said.

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Narang, who is a vice president, said it is a big responsibility given to them. “The kind of hard work we have put in in our sporting career, it's just that it will get translated into something which is administrative now. As sportspersons, we are our own administrators, so that experience will help,” he said. Rohit Rajpal, one of the members of the executive council, feels it will open a pathway for sportspersons to join administration and contribute to sports.

“It’s a good mix of experienced officials and athletes in IOA from different facets of life. You get to know the real problems of sportspersons who are playing on the field. Our job is to make sure all those areas are taken care of,” said the current Davis Cup captain (non-playing).

“It's also a great message for other athletes that they can take up sports administration,” he added.

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