Indian shooter Heena Sidhu has responded to pessimistic criticism of herself and fellow shooters by the media and Indian fans after the Indian shooters have failed to win any medals at the Rio Olympic Games so far. The 26-year old responded to the negativity shown by the fans on social media with a series of tweets on Saturday.
The shooter had participated at two events at the Olympic Games – Women’s 10m Air Pistol event and Women’s 25m Pistol event. Sidhu could not qualify for the final rounds of both the events after facing tough competition and shooting conditions at the Olympic Shooting Centre in Deodoro.
The shooter started her series of tweets by referring to the criticism faced by all the Indian athletes who failed to get the medals at the Games. She said that all the athletes involved at the mega-event have fought in their respective sports and have not given up easily.
She also said that the people only see updates about various events and athletes on their phones and read the words in reports such as “crashes out of finals”, “bows out” and “disappointing end” and think that the athletes performed badly.
She said that these people do not actually see the live coverage of the whole match and start making negative comments about the athletes and their performances. The shooter also mentions that people do see a few sports but she also indicates that shooting is not one of those few sports.
Her criticism of the fans who comment negatively about the athletes seems legitimate after social media was flooded with hate messages targeting athletes because they failed to bring home a medal.
Sidhu did not stop there and asked the fans to not give up on their athletes. She said that India as a nation is very close to winning a medal now and the people of the country should not give up on their athletes now.
The shooter further clarified that the nation is very close to winning a medal at the Games and her words also indicate that the people who criticise also need to see that the athletes are getting better and the Indian sporting scenario is getting better.
She writes that criticism of the athletes is natural and is required for the athletes to perform well. But she also mentions a key point that giving up on the athletes is not an option and should never be done.
