EXCLUSIVE/ 'Half of...': India's Paris Olympic Athlete Hits Out At Karnataka Govt For Total Lack of Recognition

Paris Olympics 2024: Ahead of the Opening Ceremony of Paris Olympics, India's premier Swimmer Srihari Nataraj is gearing up for his second attempt at the Summer Games. Missing out on making it to the Semi Finals in Tokyo Olympics, Srihari Nataraj is fully focused to make it to the knockouts when he represents India at the men's 100 M backstroke event in Paris. 

Srihari Natraj will become only the second Indian swimmer ever to make consecutive Olympics and is the National Record holder in 50m, 100m and 200m men's backstroke. Srihari Nataraj, despite consistently being India's best swimmer is however, fighting a battle outside of the races - The battle to have fair compensation and recognition for Swimmers and Athletes by Karnataka State Government. 

In an exclusive chat with Republicworld, Srihari Nataraj hit out at Karnataka Government for their total lack of recognition, support and compensation to the athletes. 

Srihari Nataraj Hits out at Karnataka Government 

Srihari Nataraj is currently at the Olympic Village preparing to go all out for India in men's 100M backstroke. However, he connected with Republicworld from the Village in an exclusive chat where he raised a major concern the compensation given by the State Government for Paris Olympics. The Indian swimmer revealed that the compensation is half of what the athletes received for Tokyo Olympics. 

“Compared to Tokyo, for Paris, for the National Games last year, the State Government compensation has been worse. I mean, I don't think it's performance that dictates it only and I don't think compensation should only be given to those who win medals because even participating in the Olympics is a big thing on its own and we did get compensation for it in Tokyo. We are going to be getting it for Paris as well, which was announced a few days ago, but I think we're getting half of what we got last time,” revealed Srihari to Republicworld.

Srihari Nataraj further questioned the State Government for their lack of compensation in the National Games despite, the swimming team being the state's best performers. Nataraj further said that other states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra provided much better funding to athletes than Karnataka. 

“We’re yet to hear about the compensation from National Games, It's extremely unfair to athletes like myself and Dhinidhi and a few others who were part of the national games campaign and we were like the best athletes out there, we won the most medals, we are the only reason that our state is up up there on the medal tally because swimming carried the sport and then you see no funding yet. You compare it to some of my friends who swim for Tamil Nadu or Maharashtra and they've received their funding.” said Srihari Natraj. 

When asked about what he thinks is the reason behind Karnataka Government not compensating its athletes for splendid performances at National Games or Asian Games or even the Commonwealth Games, Srihari simply said he didn't know the solution to this.

“I don't know why we are receiving lower compensation than Tokyo. I don't know why we haven't received compensation for National Games or Asian games. I made the finals in 4 events in Asian games. I missed a medal by 0.1 seconds. I made the finals in 2 events in the Commonwealth Games. I was the first Indian to make the finals in 2 events in Commonwealth Games. I am the highest ranked athlete  in the Commonwealth Games ever from swimming, so I don’t know,” added Srihari. 

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If I don't make a living out of this then what do I make a living out of?: Nataraj

The biggest concern Srihari Nataraj shared behind Karnataka Government's total lack of recognition and compensation is its effect on an athlete and his / her life. Yes, they play the sport out of their unmatched love & passion but in the end it is also about earning a living. He posed hard-hitting questions about the lack of money and managing ends comfortably.

“You’re not supposed to get funding if you’re only an Olympic medalist. It's supposed to happen fairly across the board. Of course the level of compensation will be different, you can't expect the same level of awards for an Olympic medal and a National Games medal or a Khelo India medal. But I think having something across the board for every sport is a must. Because at the end of the day it's also a livelihood. This is my job in a way. I'm doing this out of passion for sure, but it’s become my career so if I don't make a living out of this then what do I make a living out of?,” questioned Nataraj.

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When Srihari Natraj steps out to represent India in the 100M backstroke at the Paris Olympics he would aim to become the first Indian swimmer to make it past the heats in the French Capital, the ‘City of Lights’, Paris.