Robert Gordon, a reputed British coach, has expressed optimism about the future of Indian athletics, provided they are given adequate support.
"Indian athletes are fully capable of achieving success at the top level. All they need is good support," said Gordon on the sidelines of a press meet organised by Micron Prithvi Foundation (MPF), a CSR initiative of Micron Industries Pvt ltd.
Gordon has been an athletics coach for various countries and is currently occupying the position of performance director for MPF.
"We are trying to put in place a process through which we can create pathways for athletes to progress further in their careers," Gordon told about MPF's initative under which they have adopted six athletes, three able-bodied and three paralympians and made arrangements for their complete training and assessment.
His take on the sports culture in India was interesting.
"In Indian culture, sportsmen and sportswomen are greatly valued. What we are trying to do is allow deserving athletes to perform at the stage they deserve. We have the right kind of support staff and that is important. Only when the whole support staff works together, positive results can be produced," he explained
Earlier, Haryana government announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh rupees to MPF for furthering their cause. Manish Grover, Minister of Co-operatives in Haryana Government said, "The soil of Haryana has produced many great athletes who have won laurels for the country. Hopefully MPF can help produce more champions from the state."
Karan Vig, convenor and co-chairman of MPF outlined the goals of the foundation. "In the short term, we are looking to prepare our athletes for the World Championships in July this year. Our long term goal is to win medals in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games next year.
"We also want to promote sports in rural areas. Along with that we want to ensure clean and fair sporting competition, without doping. So far, we have focussed on track and field but from next month we will launch a similar programme for Table Tennis."