Pak athletes miss U20 World Championship

KARACHI: Former Olympian Abdul Rasheed has said it is unfortunate that no young Pakistani athlete participated in World Under 20 Athletics championship in Kenya where a number of young Indian athletes participated and performed well.

Rasheed, who competed in 2008 Beijing Olympics, told ‘The News’ on Tuesday that Pakistan could not do well in Olympics and world championships if junior Pakistani athletes did not participate in such events.

Some sources said that Indian athletes have won three medals, including two sliver, in this under-20 world championship.

Rasheed, an hurdler of 110 meters, winner of SAF gold medal in 2008 and two silver medals at Indoor Asian Athletics Championships in 2005, said the officials’ laziness had deprived junior Pakistani athletes of such an important event. He said that the federal government should ask Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and Pakistan Athletics Federation (PAF) why they did not prepare the athletes for this big event.

Rasheed said that due to good performance of Arshad Nadeem, everyone was talking about athletics. “But the people should know that there are talented and passionate young athletes who were not being prepared by the authorities.

He said it would ba a miracle if anyone won a gold medal in Olympics or World Championships without participating in junior events.

He said that it was unbelievable that sports authorities in Pakistan did not know the schedule of this championship or they did not have the resources to send the athletes. “We have wasted a lot of talent in the past due to same wrong policies,” he added.

Rasheed said that he had established a free training and coaching centre in his native village in Mian Channu, where more than two dozen athletes were getting training from him. “Six of the athletes trained by me have been employed by Army on the basis of good performance in domestic athletic events in the country,” he added.

He said that PM Imran Khan must order schools, colleges and universities to organise sports events so as to produce good athletes.