Last-minute flyer Eldose Paul gets lucky with 10-year US visa
The Hindu
Six-month visa for Sreeshankar, Aldrin and Chithravel; Dhanalakshmi explains reasons for missing Worlds
Despite running around for a few days in New Delhi for his visa and then a late dash to the USA for the World Athletics Championships, which began in Oregon on Friday, triple jumper Eldose Paul was thanking his stars.
“I got a 10-year US visa,” Paul told The Hindu soon after landing in Oregon on Friday.
Many others were not so lucky.
Long jumpers M. Sreeshankar and Jeswin Aldrin (who flew business class to the US with JSW upgrading his Government-booked ticket after he was cleared late for the Worlds) and triple jumper Praveen Chithravel have got only six-month visas.
One learns that almost all who went in the first batch for their visa interview got six-month visas, while many in the next few groups were lucky to get 10-year visas. A 10-year US visa would have been very beneficial for athletes, like Sreeshankar, who plan to train in Chula Vista next year too.
The US visa issue has made headlines all over the world, with some either forced to miss the Worlds, as they were denied visas, or land a few hours before their event as they got them late.
Indian athletes had to face a trickier situation as they also had to complete the UK visa formalities for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham soon after the Worlds.