But a sportsperson gets greater reward when his/her achievement draws public attention. It is the public identity and recognition that not only warms their hearts but also inspires them to work with more enthusiasm, and strive to achieve greater laurels.

State sports bodies in Odisha, administering disciplines such as cricket, football, athletics, badminton, swimming, chess and hockey publish/post information in their own websites or social media handles regularly. State bodies for archery, basketball, bodybuilding, bowling, billiards & snooker, fencing, judo, kabaddi, karate, kho-kho, kick-boxing, powerlifting, rugby, shooting, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and wushu also share share information through press release and over phone.

But state associations for mainstream disciplines such boxing, cycling, kayaking-canoeing, gymnastics, rowing and wrestling hardly divulge any information voluntarily or on request. Even the information disseminating system of the State Sports & Youth Services Department (DSYS) is not up to mark.

Meanwhile, a new trend to hide or restrict information seems to have come into vogue with a mutual understanding between the DSYS and the state associations. Instead of sharing information through press conferences or e-mail, the state associations give it to the DSYS. The latter then reduces the information to a tweet/post of 150-200 characters and shares it with the media through a whatsapp group. If someone asks for details, they shift responsibility to the other side of the court.

Now the question is: Why do the state sports bodies and the DSYS hide or restrict information? Does sports related information come under classified category and may put the safety and security of the State in jeopardy? Or is it that disclosing information will expose their shortcomings and wrongdoings?

The 29th National Road Cycling Championship, held in Puri from December 7 to 10 and the 43rd Odisha State Gymnastics Championship that took place in Jeypore, Koraput from December 6 to 8, are recent instances when detailed information was not divulged.

Though Odisha hosted cycling National after a gap of 57 years, nobody knew who represented the home state. There was no preparatory camp for the Odisha squad and a major accident that occurred during the womens mass start race, almost spoiled the reputation of the State. A number of competitors suffered injuries, costly bicycles were severely damaged and front runners were deprived of their medals.

Odisha ace Swasti Singh was leading the elite group when she became the biggest victim of the horrible accident that took place around 500m before the finish line. Reliable sources say that the accident occurred due to overcrowding of competitors as both the elite and junior women mass state events were conducted together for a distance of 60 kms. The width of the road was also not adequate.

Swasti, however, salvaged some reputation by winning the first and only medal for the host State with a gold in women elite 40km criterium race. She also bagged the individual runner-up trophy. But for the accident Swasti would have emerged the best woman cyclist of the championship with two gold medals to her name.

Despite repeated requests to share information, Odisha Cycling Association secretary Prasanna Kumar Rout did not respond. Of course, OCA president and cycling Arjuna Awardee Minati Mohapatra provided the results, but two days after the events. However, she also did not disclose the names of the Odisha participants.

In the case of the State Gymnastics Championship, the results remained a secret. As usual, Odisha Gymnastics Association (OGA) secretary Ashok Kumar finished his job by sending an introductory mail about the date and venue of the championship. According to information available in social media, competitors of Odisha AM/NS India Gymnastics HPC and its grassroot centres asserted overwhelming supremacy, winning almost all the medals.

But people knowing the reality claimed that lots of manipulations were done to enable the HPC gymnasts assert supremacy. First of all HPC gymnasts were allowed to compete under the OGA banner, instead of their home districts. Secondly, a large number of HPC medal winners belonged to other states. “On top of it, the age rule was thrown to the wind to show undue favour to a particular unit,’’ the sources claimed.

It may be noted that the HPC is a joint initiative of the Government of Odisha and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India. But it is alleged that in order to boost its reputation the HPC has been hiring accomplished gymnasts from other states to win medals in different competitions.

Observers of Odisha gymnastics feel that Since OGA receives a large sum as annual grant from the State Government, besides funding to conduct state championships and send teams for national championships, it creates or manipulates rules to benefit the HPC. But the modus operandi of the OGA has been destroying the careers of less privileged native gymnastic talents and depriving them the opportunity to achieve glory for the state.

State championship is not the only area where the role of OGA has raised eyebrows, the selection of State squad for the forthcoming National championship, which is scheduled to be held in Surat, Gujarat from 25 December 2024 to 4 January 2025, has caused a lot of resentment.

Like the results of the State championship, the composition of the Odisha squad for the National championship has not yet been made public. But inside sources claim that more than 50 per cent gymnasts from other states have been selected in the 38-member Odisha squad.

The above two instances are just the tip of an iceberg. What lies beneath the surface could be mind blowing!
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TOP: Odisha ace Swasti Singh poses with her gold medal at the 29th National Road Cycling Championship in Puri.
RIGHT: Trainees of Odisha AM/NS India Gymnastics HPC celebrate with their State championship medals in Bhubaneswar.