India's Eldhose Paul.
Credit: Reuters photo
Bengaluru: Commonwealth Games gold medallist Eldhose Paul, who became the first Indian triple jumper to bag a gold in the quadrennial event, is struggling to find a sponsor for a critical knee surgery in Qatar, with months left to defend his title next year in Glasgow.
The 28-year-old Keralite hasn't competed since June last year and subsequently missed out on the berth for the upcoming World Athletics Championships after being diagnosed with bipartite patella, where the patella's ossification centres fail to fuse.
The athlete has already undergone two failed surgeries at a hospital in Bengaluru, making him apprehensive about going for a third one in India.
"The injury happened last year before the Olympics," Paul told DH. "Actually, it's a congenital issue, but last year the symptoms popped up. It's in the knee. I went to two-three doctors to consult, and after that I went for surgery at a Bengaluru hospital in January.
"I underwent another surgery there in March. Slowly, I learnt that both surgeries were unsuccessful. They tried to fuse the bone, but it didn't work. They have put a screw to hold them together, that's why I can't train or work out at the moment."
He is now hoping to get treated at a Doha hospital which specialises in orthopedic and sports medicine. The institution is trusted by athletes across the globe, including Brazilian footballer Neymar, who successfully underwent right ankle surgery.
Indian long jumper M Sreeshankar, who recently qualified for the World Championships following a good show in the domestic season, went under the knife for a ruptured patellar tendon at the same institution in early 2024. His expenses at the time were covered under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme.
Paul, however, was excluded from the TOPS list last November. The procedure to drop an athlete from the TOPS is overseen by the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC), which regularly reviews the performance of athletes. An athlete can be excluded based on the committee's recommendations if their performance does not meet the necessary standards for medal contention.
His expenses, however, for both surgeries were reimbursed through insurance policies under the National Centre of Excellence (NCoE) scheme. The same scheme won't bear any expenses of treatment and surgeries outside India. To make the situation worse, his sponsors have turned their backs on him as well.
“The biggest problem at the moment is sponsors. All my sponsors have left since learning of my injury. They just terminated the contract without any proper explanation, including those who were there before the CWG," said Paul, who leapt 17.03m to claim the gold in Birmingham in 2022.