NEW DELHI: Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra might have brought a gold medal for the country in the Tokyo Olympics this year, but there are still a lot of athletes in the country who continue to struggle to make ends meet even after winning medals at the national championships.
One such athlete is Lokesh Kumar, who is a sprinter from Delhi and he had even bagged a gold medal in 200m in April this year. However, he is facing struggles in daily life and this has severely impacted his training.
Speaking to ANI, Lokesh explained his family background and how is now struggling to make ends meet. While Lokesh’s father is a rickshaw puller, his mother is working as a housemaid.
“My father is a rickshaw puller and mother used to work as a maid in bungalows, my mother’s earning is around 2500 per month and father earns on a daily basis so there is specific monthly earning, if we get food at one time there is no guarantee that we will get a meal on the next day, an athlete needs proper diet for his game but I fail to get that, but with the help of my coach I have dry fruits to eat and he also provides me some necessary things to eat but I am not able to get a proper diet,” said Lokesh while explaining his plight.
Lokesh also has to travel a lot for practising and this is also impacting his routine and training practice. “I have to travel from far and I also need to spend money in order to have proper milk intake so I have to cut my travel budget which I can’t afford to so I cut down on my milk intake and I drink warm water as a substitute.”
While speaking to ANI, coach of Lokesh, Vipin Lohit said that he has full confidence in the sprinter’s abilities and he is sure that he will overcome all odds to make a name for himself.
“When he came to me I found some spark in him, his dedication and his commitment towards track is something I can’t explain. He has some financial issue but I also try to help him out in whatever way I can.”
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