No athlete is bigger than the Games, not even Bolt: Mark

Namita Singh

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) Absence of star athletes like
Usain Bolt and Stephani Rice would not take the sheen away
from the Delhi Commonwealth Games, feels Australia's champion
shooter and Olympic medallist Russell Mark.
"No athlete is bigger than the Games, not even Bolt,"
Mark said.
The Australian is all praise for India's Ronjon Singh
Sodhi, who has been training under him for a while now. Mark
had earlier trained Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore before the
Athens Olympics in which the Indian won a silver.
"He (Sodhi) is one of the most improved shooters if you
look at the last four years. He still has his best years ahead
of him and will be a tough person to beat in this year's
Commonwealth Games and the London Olympics (2012)," Mark told
PTI Bhasha from Australia.
Mark won gold in double trap at the Atlanta Olympics in
1996 and managed a silver medal in the Sydney Olympics four
years later. He also won a gold medal at the Melbourne
Commonwealth Games in 2006.
The Australian, who last visited the country during the
Commonwealth Shooting Championship at the Karni Singh Shooting
Range here in March, said he does not mind coming to India for
the Games and has also rubbished concerns about security
measures during the extravaganza.
"The security for the Commonwealth Games test event in
March was very strict and that did cause us some concern. We
have not been told officially of any security problems from
our team management, so I'm assuming the Indian authorities
have taken care of things," he said.
Provided he gets an offer in future, would he like to
become the national coach of the Indian shooting team, "Yes, I
would take the job on a part-time basis.
I know I will be able to help them and, with the amount
of talent the team has, I believe they should dominate the
double trap events for the next five to eight years." PTI NS
MYR