Legendary cricketer Kapil Dev and six-time Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan are among those who support the wrestlers.
Digital Desk: Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra on Friday expressed his support for the wrestlers who are protesting and urged officials to take "quick action" to guarantee that justice is done.
Chopra voiced his disappointment a day after PT Usha, the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), slammed the wrestlers for returning to the streets to continue their protests rather than bringing their complaints against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the head of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), who has been accused of sexual harassment and intimidation. It "hurts" to watch fellow athletes taking to the streets in seeking justice, according to ace javelin thrower Chopra, who made history by winning India's first-ever gold medal in athletics at the Olympics.
Taking Twitter he wrote,'' It hurts me to see our athletes on the streets demanding justice. They have worked hard to represent our great nation and make us proud. As a nation, we are responsible for safeguarding the integrity and dignity of every individual, athlete or not. What's happening should never happen. ''This is a sensitive issue and must be dealt with impartially and transparently. Pertaining authorities must take quick action to ensure that justice is served.''
The only two individual Olympic gold medalists in the nation have now spoken out in support of the wrestlers; most recently, the shooting winner from the 2008 Beijing Games also spoke out in favour of the wrestlers.
Since last weekend, a group of wrestlers, including Olympic, Commonwealth, and World Championship medalists Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat, have been sitting at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the national capital.
''As athletes, we train hard every day to represent our country on the international stage. It is deeply concerning to see our athletes finding it necessary to protest on the streets regarding the allegations of harassment in the Indian wrestling administration,'' Bindra tweeted.
Chopra, who currently resides in Antalya, Turkey, and will compete in the Doha Diamond League's inaugural event on May 6, has received praise on social media since sharing his opinions on the matter.
Legendary cricketer Kapil Dev and six-time Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan are among those who support the wrestlers. The Supreme Court will hear seven wrestlers' petition for the creation of an FIR against the WFI president on Friday.
The SC observed that the appeal filed by wrestlers who had represented India in international competition contained serious charges. The Delhi Police was also given notice by the Supreme Court over the wrestlers' petition.
The wrestlers have spent the past four days sleeping and training at the protest location. Usha said in a statement to the media following a meeting of the IOA's executive committee on Thursday, "Our feeling is that the IOA has a committee and athletes' commission for sexual harassment accusations. They should have come to us instead of (again) going to the street, but they haven't even attempted to come to IOA." In addition, the IOA announced the creation of a three-person committee to manage the day-to-day operations of the WFI and hold new elections within 45 days.
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