Veteran triple jumper Renjith Maheswary is one among a few Indian athletes, who have qualified for the track and field events in the Rio Olympics 2016. But, the Kerala sportsperson may not head to Brazil, if his coach is not allowed to travel with him to Rio.
During the London Olympics, Maheswary was red flagged in all three of his jumps, which brought him severe criticism as well. But, the athlete feels things could have been better in 2012, had his coach Nishad Kumar been present alongside.
"If my coach was there he would have immediately corrected my run at the first foul itself. After making two foul jumps at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, I had panicked," India Today quoted Renjith as saying.
To have a good Rio Olympics, Maheswary wants to take his coach, who will help him correct errors then and there. But, the athlete is not happy as his coach cannot fly with him to Rio, which might lead him to snubbing the Olympics.
"I have been told that my coach cannot come with me to Rio. So, if that is the case, I will have to seriously think about participating in the Rio Olympics," Maheswary told Manorama News.
"With the the current coach that is going with the Indian contingent, I have had two poor Olympics. Other coaches are being allowed, but when they say my coach cannot come, it is hard to accept."
Besides Olympics, Maheswary has represented India in various sporting competitions like Asian Championships and the World Championships. Maheswary's best finishes has been a bronze medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and gold in Asian Championships in 2007.
At one point it looked likely that the Indian triple jumper would miss an opportunity to take part in a third Olympics, before finding the right jump at the right time during the Indian Grand Prix earlier in the month to qualify for Rio. The 30-year-old Kerala athlete shattered the national record with a jump of 17.30m, which was well above the Rio qualification (16.8m) mark. He broke Arpinder Singh's record of 17.17m, which was set in 2014.
