Sport, as a popular internet encyclopedia defines, includes all forms of competitive physical activity or games which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators.
While the World over, sports enthrals billions in various forms, some are quite barbaric causing physical injury and some are totally dependent on technical strengths like Motor racing. Skill plays a major part in sports - both mental and physical, however, there is always room for improvement. Sportspersons thrive hard to achieve success through relentless practice in pursuit of glory at the highest stage.
The thrill and excitement created by the sport to its followers is the stimulant that draws spectators and money in Billions.
Every sport has an element of risk in it, an element that rushes the adrenaline of both the sportsperson and its unabashed followers. One of the aspects that are governing the world of sports is the issue of safety. How life-threatening is a sport? An F1 car crash, a broken jaw of a boxer or a 5 and a half-ounce of leather hit by a marauding cricketer hitting a cheering kid in the stands... Every one of them has its perils, but ones that have been kept in check, most times. What baffles me is why do some sports exist?
That brings me to the incident in Kerala during a sports meet recently. Abheel Johnson was serving as a volunteer for the javelin throw event at the State Junior Athletic Meet. Since the hammer and javelin throw events were held simultaneously and the venues were near each other, Abheel couldn’t escape when the hammer, which was thrown by a participant, came directly to him. The hammer, weighing around 3kg, fell on his head from a distance of nearly 42 metres. Though he was rushed to the Government hospital and doctors performed emergency surgery, his health condition never showed any significant improvement. He eventually breathed his last. An accident caused by a 'sport' that can never be classified as a sport!
Hammer throwing, one of the throwing events in track and field, was developed into a sport centuries ago in Ireland, Scotland, and England. Legends trace it back in various forms to the Tailteann Games held in Tara, Ireland, around in 1829 BC. Centuries later Celtic mythological hero Cuchulainn was said to have gripped a chariot wheel by its axle, whirled it around his head, and threw it farther than any other mortal. Wheel hurling was later replaced by throwing a boulder attached to the end of a wooden handle. Among the ancient Teutonic tribes, forms of hammer throwing were practised at religious festivals honouring the God Thor.
Unlike international sports circuits, the safety aspect of hammer throwing is much debatable. The mandatory safety net around the thrower is minimally visible in training centres, The trajectory or the angle of the throw on the field too is quite unpredictable.
The shot put and Javelin throwing events have acceptability of the landing area and I find it reasonable to be continued as a 'sport' showcasing one's physical strength in hurling objects. However the same cannot be said of the hammer throw. So, what is achieved through this throwing sport but for replicating the whirling of a chariot wheel with its axle of a bygone primitive era?
When tragedy strikes sportspersons, as has been the case from Raymond Chapman to Ayrton Senna to Sarah Burke to Philip Hughes and many more, we're often reminded that the athletes are not just a statistic in the game's annals, they are human beings. Then there are incidents that have effected the spectators, the bystanders, the involuntary participants in sport.
It's time to revisit the definition of sport - Hammer throwing for one is not!
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Pics: Internet
