Care and sympathy are as important as the training that goes into the making of a champion. Yet, these are feelings Indian sportspersons have rarely, if ever, experienced. Instead, theirs is a world full of fear, pressure and intimidation. The Sarita Devi episode is the latest, but it is neither the first, nor will it be the last.

On Tuesday, all that the officials did was to shake their head at the ridiculous decision handed out to the boxer. Instead of going down to console her or see if an appeal could work, or maybe just let their displeasure known, they quickly made their way to their courtesy cars to get to the next venue the hockey stadium, for the India-Korea semi-final.