Citius

Olympic Dreams

In the week gone by, Janet Evans swam 400 meters freestyle in 4 minutes, 21.49 seconds. Not a mean feat this, if you consider that Janet is 40 years old.

But if you realize that this 40-year-old is winner of four Olympic gold medals and her best timing is 19 seconds faster than this, the present timing does not even deserve mention. Yes we are talking about the queen of pool in the late 80s and early 90s and holder of World Record in both 400 and 800 meters freestyle, Janet Evans. Such was her dominance that her 400m freestyle world record stood for 18 years before it was beaten in 2006. Her 800m freestyle record was bettered after 19 years at the 2008 Games.

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Olympic spirit: Did we not lose it?

More than 200 countries – 205 in theory – marked the Olympic day on June 23rd. The day has significance in history as it was the same day in the year 1894, when International Olympic Committee was formally established.
As every National Olympic Committees marked the day, their focus was the slogan – Sports for Everyone. Only we, perhaps, marked it without getting the message. For us, it was not for everyone. That has to be exactly the reason why there were two Olympic Committees organizing their own program in two different places. While one chose birthplace of Buddha, the other one chose the capital (as if Buddha was against unity).
If you find it astonishing, you’re in for more shock. Two of our best known sportspersons, and the only players we have produced so far to get ‘qualified’ for an Olympic event, were not the part of celebrations. Yes, Deepak Bista and Sangina Baidya were not present in either of the programs. And why would they? After all, they would not like to be linked with yet another controversy. And which celebration would they choose to attend? They’re affiliated to National Sports Council and would not like to go against what their bosses say.

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