Asian Games 2018: Seema Punia pledges to donate her Asiad money for Kerala flood victims

Indian discus thrower Seema Punia, who won a bronze medal in the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia, said that she would donate her money of USD 700 and a sum of one lakh rupees to help the victims of the Kerala flood.

Seema had won the gold at the 2014 Incheon Games but failed to emulate that feat as her best throw of 62.26 could only fetch her a bronze medal this time.

Appealing to all the other athletes to take up a similar step to help the victims of the flood in Kerala, Seema, as quoted by the New Indian Express, said, “I have decided to donate my pocket money and also one lakh more to Kerala flood victims. They have gone through a lot. I will go and try to serve those people.”

“I also urge all Indian athletes to donate at least half of their allowance to help the victims,” she added.

She revealed that she had a problem with her left foot but she didn’t attribute the pain to her performance. Punia said that she would undergo surgery once she is back from Kerala.

“This problem had surfaced at CWG but it was not bad. But now it will need a surgery. Today also I was in pain but it was not the reason for my performance,” she said.

The Haryana athlete notched up her best throw in the third attempt, which was better than her throw of 61.03 m which gave her the gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

It was also the best throw of her season as she eventually settled for a bronze after China’s Chen and Feng Bin won the gold and silver medals respectively.

Apart from being an athlete, Seema who is also a sub-inspector with the Haryana police said that he still thought how much more she had proved herself in order to get an Arjuna award.

She said, “Maybe they don’t feel that I deserve. I don’t know what’s wrong. I have also not been promoted by my department in the last eight years.”

The Haryana athlete also put forward a request to the Sports Ministry to increase the wages of the masseurs of the Indian contingent.

“They get only Rs 700 a day. It’s not enough,” she said.

A four-time Commonwealth Games medal winner, Seema said her, “tempo” was disturbed by the poor first throw.

She said, “The first throw was a bit too high, it went parallel, so I could not get the distance. I was confident of bettering my personal best but it was not my day. But I will not stop here. I have Tokyo in mind. That competition will be mine and it will not be just for participation.”

Also read: Asian Games 2018: women’s 4x400m relay team wins fifth consecutive gold