Preserve Budhia?s talent: PT Usha

Shocked over four-and-a-half-year old Budhia Singh?s marathon run, former sprint queen PT Usha on Tuesday said it posed danger to his life. ?How can you permit a four-and-a-half-year-old to run 65 km when it is difficult for him to run even a km at this age?? Usha asked.

Shocked over four-and-a-half-year old Budhia Singh’s marathon run, former sprint queen PT Usha on Tuesday said it posed danger to his life. “How can you permit a four-and-a-half-year-old to run 65 km when it is difficult for him to run even a km at this age?” Usha asked.

Usha, one of the best athletes the country has ever produced, said Budhia was bound to suffer from cardiological stress and other major ailments by running long distances. “Let us preserve his talent. If Budhia can run long distances at this age, he has to be protected and groomed for the future,” she said.

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Appealing to the Orissa government to restrain the child from running such long distances at this age, Usha, who missed an Olympic bronze by a whisker, said the boy’s parents should wait for the right time to showcase his talent.

On Budhia’s coach making the boy run the marathon, she asked: “Will we make our children run at this age only for the sake of fame?” “Although I am training 12-year-olds at my School of Athletics, they will hit the track only after three or four years,” she said.

Usha said Budhia should be trained under a qualified athletic coach. Meanwhile, Budhia’s coach Biranchi Das has threatened to initiate legal action against those involved in the “forcible” medical examination of the boy.

“I’m going to move the Orissa HC against doctors and other officials for the manner in which they conducted the test,” Das said. He also alleged that Budhia was “dragged out” and taken to the hospital on May 5 in a police jeep.