The vanishing stars of MGU: A crisis in Kerala’s athletic talent pool

The vanishing stars of MGU: A crisis in Kerala’s athletic talent pool

Shiny Wilson still sweats when she talks about Mahatma Gandhi University’s debut in the all-India varsities athletics championship in 1983-84. The Kottayam-based university had just come in being then and Shiny ran six events, winning three golds, and played a big role in MGU winning the women’s team championship that year.

“That was the toughest meet of my life. I ran the 200, 400, 800, 1500m and the two relays and we had heats, semifinals and final in almost all the events,” Shiny told Sportstar from Chennai.

“And the 400m was held just 20 minutes after the 1500m final.”

Shiny, at Pala’s Alphonsa College then, went on to become the first female Indian track athlete to enter the Olympics semifinal at Los Angeles 1984, in her favourite 800m where she also won Asian titles.

A lot has changed at the MGU. The university which produced the country’s greatest 800m runner is now unable to even fill the lanes in the two-lapper.

Just four women ran the 800m at the recent MGU championships in Pala and that included Uttar Pradesh’s Shivanki Awasthi who had been roped in by Alphonsa College and who went on to win the event.

And the women’s 400m – an event where MGU had produced Olympian Anilda Thomas, Asian Games relay gold medallists V.K. Vismaya and Shiny – was conducted as a direct final.

Kerala, the land of P.T. Usha, Shiny Wilson, M.D. Valsamma, Anju Bobby George, Preeja Sreedharan and Tintu Luka, did not have a single woman in the Indian team at the last two Olympics and the MGU meet gave enough reasons for the dismal scene.

“It’s a problem getting quality athletes in Kerala, getting jobs is not easy here and youngsters try to go abroad after completing plus two,” said Thankachan Mathew, the athletics coach at Alphonsa College, the MGU women’s champion.

“Many others who are here want to do nursing to get jobs abroad. And the State Government’s support for athletes is less now, funds don’t come on time and sports hostel athletes don’t get kits.”

Binu George Varghese, Dean and Director, MGU’s School of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, brought in another angle.

“Now, the problem is, private universities (outside Kerala) are ‘buying’ all our athletes. They don’t need to study there, you just go and perform and you will get a degree. Many of our athletes go to Alva’s College and Mangalore University,” said Binu.

More universities from other States are now trying to attract Kerala athletes offering them good amounts to run for them.

Last year’s World University Games in China, which saw some of India’s top athletes in action, threw up plenty of surprises and many questions too.

Are these athletes really students of the university they represent, was one question many kept asking.

The World University Games come again next year, this time in Germany, and proper screening should be done to ensure that only genuine students get to catch the flight to the Games.