IT is unfortunate that our power-lifting champion, Athar Butt, has not been recognized for winning the gold medal in the Commonwealth power-lifting championship in the United Kingdom in December 2011.After receiving live coverage in the UK on its local TV channel, and after beating countries such as Australia and Canada in his quest for gold, he was not even honoured with a ticker on our local 24-hour news channels? I think that is astonishing considering some of the ‘breaking news’ items which are flashed across our screens.

There is no infrastructure and support for the majority of our athletes, and for someone like Athar to reach such standards through his own financing, dedicated training and sheer effort, is something that would inspire many youngsters.

After winning the gold in the UK, it must have been quite an anti-climax then to return to his country and find such ignorance regarding his achievement. Well done, Athar.

MRS SHARJEELVia e-mail