Nadal,Alonso shining stars but others left in the lurch

Nor does the current financial crunch suggest Spain will be reliving the euphoria of Barcelona 1992 or emulating the stunning performance of 2012 hosts Britain if Madrid beats Istanbul and Tokyo to win the right to host the Summer Olympics in 2020. Local media talk of a “crisis” and the issue has been given an unusual amount of coverage alongside the latest news about soccer giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.

“The moment will come when all Spanish athletes are reduced to mediocrity,” gymnast Isaac Botella,who was sixth in the men’s vault at the London Olympics,told radio station Cadena Ser this week. Botella said he had not received any grant cash since January and without regular employment,was having to rely on his parents for support.

“It hurts quite a lot and you lose motivation,” the 29-year-old added. “I couldn’t afford to buy a pair of short trousers for the summer and it’s embarrassing to ask my mother. It has an effect on your training,you are down in the dumps and your work is of poorer quality.”

BLEAK OUTLOOK

The tribulations of Botella,Perez and others like them are partly the result of deep cuts to government subsidies for Spain’s sports federations,part of a wider effort to rein in state spending.

The soccer federation (RFEF),which has a host of corporate sponsors and is flush with cash after a run of success in international tournaments,can afford to forego its subsidy and is not affected by the cuts. For most of the rest,however,the picture is anything but rosy and a recent report in El Pais newspaper suggested 25 of Spain’s 63 federations were flirting with bankruptcy. The plight of the athletics federation (RFEA) is typical. Its subsidy was slashed 47 percent this year compared with 2012 and had sunk to 2.8 million euros from 7 million in 2008,according to RFEA president Jose Maria Odriozola. (Reuters)

China feels the pinch too

BEIJING: China has slashed the budget for its National Games by 78 percent amid dramatically slowing economic growth and a government campaign to rein in public spending. Spending on the 12th games,to be held August 31-September 12 in the northeastern province of Liaoning,will be kept to a maximum of 800 million yuan ($130 million),the deputy director of the organizing committee,He Min,was quoted as saying by state media on Thursday. That’s down from the original figure of 3.6 billion yuan ($590 million). (AP)

Dutee Chand qualifies for 100 metre final

Promising Indian athlete Dutee Chand on Thursday qualified for the girls’ 100m final on the second day of the World Youth Championships at Donetsk in Ukraine. Seventeen-year-old Chand,who had won a 200m bronze in the just-concluded Asian Athletics Championships in Pune,clocked 11.72secs to finish third in the semifinals No.3. The first two in each of the three semifinal heats and the next two fastest qualify for the finals. The Indian qualified for the final as one of the two fastest. Chand had clocked her personal best of 11.62secs — national youth and junior records — in the first round heats on Wednesday,the fifth fastest athlete going into the semifinal heats.

Meanwhile,India’s medal hope Shakti Solanki failed to make it to the boys shot put final as he finished 13th in the qualifying competition with a mark of 18.72m. Only the top 12 finishers advance to the finals.