Some sanity finally prevails after the Salman Khan controversy snowballed into a nationwide uproar as Tendulkar and Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra have now been roped in by IOA alongside the actor to be goodwill ambassadors for the Rio 2016 games. Tendulkar and Bindra are household names in the world of sports and their presence as goodwill ambassador for India makes sense and proves sanctity in the scheme of things.
Top sportsmen would represent our country at the games and such people don’t need advice or tips to perform. They only need motivation and encouragement and IOA should set up a ‘motivation team’ to encourage our contingent to deliver their best performance at the games. Men like Tendulkar, Bindra, Salman Khan and their tribe should form a panel which should keep meeting those representing our country at sports villages set up at various places in our country. They should try to relieve the mental stress the sportsmen go through before an important event like Olympics.
Mental conditioning is very important and some financial assistance along with monetary inducement would go a long way in egging our Olympic contingent to do well at the games. Tendulkar, Bindra and Salman are celebrities in their own rights and I am sure a right beginning has been made to motivate our contingent to do well at the games. Likes of Milkha Singh, P.T. Usha too could be added to that list so that no stone is left unturned to get the desired results at the Rio games.
S.N. Kabra
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
