shuttered training facilities schedule disruptions and cancelled competitions threw sportspersons fitness and career plans into disarray during the pandemic which twice forced authorities to curtail activities students in small towns who thought field triumphs at the local or state level would help them enter good universities or companies were left wondering what nextsprinter and ekalavya award winner reena george explained how the crisis had affected professional athletes progress to keep achieving we need to participate in three to four tournaments every year we have not been able to do this for the past two years she said sticking to a workout or training routine has been a challenge we are unable to follow any schedule i sustained injuries while practising in a new gym she said adding that government departments had not invited applications under sportspersons quota since the pandemic beganbefore march 2020 various tournaments were organised in mysuru where the annual dasara sports meet and ranji and kpl matches attracted huge crowds on average 400 athletes from the university of mysore uom entered intervarsity competitions annually taluk district and statelevel events also saw strong participationp krishnaiah director ic of uoms physical education department said that for many students success in sports was a passport for higher studies and employment many students miss these opportunities under the sports quota he addeduniversities and colleges in dharwad also had a busy calendar before the pandemic it was my dream to create a record at the interuniversity athletics meet but the event was not held said sprinter and finalyear ba student ashok patil i wanted to join the defence or police force under the sports quota but i will finish my degree course without any significant field achievementkishore kumar ck the registrar of mangalore university expressed concerns about the pandemics longterm impact sports meets may not get adequate sponsorships because of the financial crisis he said adding that the varsity conducted 10 out of 48 events with healthsafety protocolsdr mohan alva the chairman of alvas education foundation moodbidri dakshina kannada asked that if the kambala race could be allowed with several spectators why cant sporting meets physical activity helps build immunity improves health and acts as a natural medicine for many diseases stringent restrictions have taken away the careers of thousands of sportspersons he said his institution has supported many sportspersons in the past 25 yearsin the absence of regular workout or practice athletes fitness goes off the track and mentally they feel dejected and lose interest it takes a long time to regain speed and strength he addedjayalakshmi j the captain of karnataka womens ball badminton team said that after the first wave of covid19 they had participated in just two events earlier they used to take part in a dozen we managed to keep ourselves fit with the help of wall practice it took two months to get back into form after the first wave said jayalakshmi who won the kreeda ratna award in 2017high jumper abhinaya shetty who bagged bronze