Dubai: You can call it first time lucky. For former Indian athlete Satyanarayana, discovering Girisha Nagarajegowda was something that would shape his future as a coach.
In his capacity as honorary treasurer of the Athletics Federation of India and honorary secretary of the Karnataka Athletics Association, Satyanarayana spotted Nagarajegowda while the Paralympic high jumper was training at the Kantivara Stadium in Bengaluru.
“He was my first student and he returned with an Olympic medal. What more can a coach ask for?” he said.
“There is so much sports talent in India. It is just a question of going out and tapping into it at the grassroots,” Satyanarayana told Gulf News.
He said India had made huge strides in the technology and education sectors and it was now time we start looking at the health and sports sectors.
“We can have so many top-class athletes in the future,” said the former 1,500m runner.
“It’s just a question of going out and finding the athletes.”
