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Actors Should Not Carry Olympic Torch

Athletics great of yesteryears Milkha Singh ran 300 meters of the 32 Km long Olympic Torch relay, here in Delhi. He spoke to Sify Correspondent E Jayakrishnan on how he felt holding the traditional torch. Here are the excerpts:

This is a great moment for Indian sports. The very thought of holding the torch gives me goose pimples. It is a special moment in my life that after so many years the Olympic torch has come to India.

However, I have already spoken about my objections to the way the IOA has gone about the selection of the people who will bear the Olympic torch in the relay.

find it very hard to stomach that the country's great athletes like Prakash Padukone and P T Usha are missing from the list of people who have been selected.

I think it is a great oversight on the part of the IOA. They should have prepared a list of the top sportspersons in the country and then invited the top 30 or 40. These omissions are baffling.

Another aspect of the relay that I have my anxieties is that a disproportionate number of film stars and non-sporting celebrities have been invited.

I have nothing personal against film stars being part of the celebrations, but they should not be allowed to carry the Olympic torch.

Only sportspersons who have shed their blood and sweat to bring glory to the country should be allowed to bear the torch. Other celebrities can run along with the torchbearers and participate in the festivities but they cannot be allowed to hold the torch. That should be the prerogative of the sportspersons alone.

Source @ `Olympic torch gave me goose pimples` - Sify.com

See how times of India gloryfing Actors schedules instead of Sports personalities.

Even I can't beleive so much glam is being patronized where actually the sports personalities should be honored with the precious moments for all the blood and sweat they have given to the indian sport.

I feel so bad when i find out how badly sports personas are treated. Recently I came across Indian Women Football team captain, who did captaincy for almost 3 years and I was not able to find a proper profile of her in sports related websites, forget about the picture of her. This needs to change.