Dangerous track for Kerala’s young athletes

The synthetic track at the Maharaja Stadium, long dead and now with its top layer worn out in many places, forced the meet organisers to delay the afternoon events by a couple of hours.

Women’s 1500m winner C. Chanthini next to the worn-out track | Photo Credit: Stan Rayan

Year after year, one keeps hearing about the good news that the synthetic track at the Maharaja’s Stadium here would be relaid. But as each year passes, the disappointment continues.

The Mahatma Gandhi University athletics championships, which began at the Maharaja’s Stadium on Monday, offered a glimpse of what Kerala’s young and promising athletes have to endure as they fight their way to national prominence.

The track, long dead and now with its top layer worn out in many places, forced the meet organisers to delay the afternoon events by a couple of hours as it was melting in many places.

The university has produced some of the country’s brightest athletes, including Preeja Sreedharan, Jinson Johnson, V.K. Vismaya and Muhammed Ajmal, but now its athletes have to compete on a horrible track with a worry that they could get injured any time.

It’s time for Kerala to come together to relay without any further delay.