Beenamol has potential: Milkha

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Flying Sikh Milkha Singh has hailed the performance of Kerala girl K M Beenamol at the Sydney Olympics. Beenamol reached the women's 400 metre semi-finals before bowing out.

"I wish someone had told her how to run in the semi-finals. The girl had performed creditably to reach that stage in her first major international competition. With good coaching and a little luck she could excel in the event. She should concentrate on developing stamina. She did her first heat in 51.51 seconds. But her second run was a bit of a disappointment as she clocked 51.81 and just scraped through to the semi-final. Her semi-final run was even worse. But she is the find of this Olympics and I hope she does well in future," Singh told rediff.com .

Milkha had a few tips for Beenamol. "She should now be given international exposure with athletes who run around the 50 second mark. She should not be pushed to compete against those doing 48 or 49. That will be suicidal and demoralise her," said the great athlete.

He did not agree with a suggestion that the government should institute a probe into athletes who under performed. "The probe will not help anyone. What have we achieved by asking the CBI to go into the cricket match-fixing case?" he asked.

He lashed out at the discus and shot put throwers who performed well below their national marks. "We must find out how measurements are taken at the national games. We must know why those who have been doing so well at home suddenly under-perform in international meets."

"Look at the hue and cry that was raised when newspapers said the Paramjit Singh broke my record. They said he broke the 45 second barrier. People asked me why I did not hand over the Rs 200,000 that I had offered for any Indian athlete who broke my record. The media was angry. Nobody was prepared to listen when I said that he should repeat this performance in an international event like the Olympics. There he could not even clock 46 seconds. I have been proved right," he said.

He said he would take up the matter with the Union government and make suggestions on how Indian athletes can improve their performances in international competitions.

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