Mercy Kuttans golden dreams come true

KOCHI:"Let me have a look at his takeoff,” Thus saying, Olympian Mercy  Kuttan walked off towards the side of the pavilion at the Maharaja’s College  Stadium from where she could have a better sight of her ward Bright K Devassya competing in the senior boys long jump.Bright, the reigning schools national champion, duly claimed his first gold in the state schools championship with an effort of 7.06 m, representing Sacred Heart HSS, Thevara. It also marked host Ernakulam’s first gold in the 55th Kerala State Schools Athletics Championship on Thursday.For Mercy, it is just a step in the right direction to take her late  husband’s dream of a full-fledged academy to its logical conclusion that of moulding athletes good enough to make a mark in the international arena.“Now, it is a mission,” she said on running the Mercy Kuttan Athletics Academy which the international athlete duo of the late M R Murali Kuttan and herself had launched three years ago.“My son was telling me yesterday that whenever the school games come up, it will always bring back memories,” Mercy said looking back upon the night after the opening day of the previous edition of the championship held at Thiruvananthapuram last year.Her husband Murali Kuttan had died of a cardiac arrest at a private hospital there and son Sujith Kuttan was supposed to be competing in the 100m final the next day. She showed exceptional courage and character to keep the fact away from her son who blitzed the field to emerge the fastest athlete of the meet that unforgettable, emotion-filled day at the University Stadium.“It is a huge responsibility. It is with great faith that parents leave their children with us. We are their guardians and need to take care of their each and every need,” she said.However, with her trainees, ten of whom are competing here, showing great  promise and producing medals at various levels, she is as determined as ever to see that her dream, her late husband’s as well, of shaping world class athletes is realised.Currently, her biggest headache is finding funds to keep abreast of the latest methods in training and nutrition. “At any cost, I will continue with the academy. But, I need the support of the government to meet the expenses,” she said.