Athletics: Pakistan seek IAAF’s help
Sahi met the IAAF President Lamine Diack in London, adding that the guidance from the body will go a long way in helping Pakistan athletes who have put on a disappointing show at the Olympics. Liaqat Ali and Rabia Ashiq failed to progress from their first test in the 100m sprint and 800m event respectively.
“I’ve told him that we want to send our sprinters to Jamaica, long-runners to Kenya and hurdlers to China to allow them to train in world class facilities,” said Sahi told The Express Tribune. “He was very forthcoming and directed the world body’s training officials to meet for extensive deliberations.”
He added that Diack has also asked him to promote athletics on a grass-root level in Pakistan, while also assuring assistance at the international stage.
“I’m also trying to meet officials of Jamaica and Kenya because all athletes from all over the world want to train with them while there are other countries in my mind as well.”
Sahi, who also went to London on a personal visit with an aim to see national athletes participate in the Games, met officials from other countries to share the vision of improving athletics in Pakistan. He said that a meeting with IAAF officials will be followed by officials from other countries also talking at length about the topic before he returns to Pakistan on August 13.
Meanwhile, when asked about the performance of Pakistani athletes Liaqat and Rabia, he said that he was disappointed by both.
“Both kids have disappointed me because I was expecting better performances. They failed to raise their game at the big stage.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2012.
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Instead of going to London to meet him..he should have sent an email...would have saved lots of money !
he should have done this before. but he got a very right point from mr, diack. athletic as well as other sport games should be promoted from a primary level. and talented athletes below 22 years old should be given more resources to promote and more chances to perform internationally. previously AFP did not pay much attention on young athletes but just counted on very few grown ones. as mr. sahi said they gave liaquat ali most chances to participate in different international events, but liaquat did not promote his timing as expected. he did not even get close to his personal best made 3 years ago. now he is close to 30 years old and not in a perfect condition to play. young athletes should be given more chance for better training and international event to gain experiance and confidence. it may take a little long time and the result may not be seen very soon, but after 3 to 5 years there will be a boost for Pakistan.
And this guy met the other guy in london .. self paid trip im sure..
For the big events like Olympics all the Professional teams have skilled Psychiatrists, Plyometric specialists, Nutritionists, Dietitians and now a days even IT specialists for technical analysis. What our athletes have is nothing and they must be trained in other environments to really have a good show in future. Our Coaches dont even know the difference in Tailwind, Headwind and Crosswind in Sprinting so how they will train the sprinters then.