A four-year-old Indian child who ran 65km in seven hours last week was on Monday banned by worried welfare officials from running marathons.
The child welfare department of the eastern state of Orissa announced the ban following a medical report that Budhia Singh was ”undernourished, anaemic and under cardiological stress”.
”He will not be allowed to run long distance till all tests are completed,” child welfare officer R Mishra told reporters in the state capital of Bhubaneswar.
Mishra added that medical tests showed Budhia was not yet five years old, as suggested by his coach Biranchi Das last Tuesday when the child ran from the holy town of Puri to Bhubaneswar.
Budhia, watched over by his coach, paramilitary forces and TV crews and trailed by army doctors and an ambulance, collapsed two kilometres short of the finish line — the headquarters of the Central Reserve Police Force in Bhubaneswar — and was taken to hospital.
Budhia, almost a real life version of the fictitious Forrest Gump, and his coach found immediate fame but human rights activists attacked the state government for risking the boy’s life.
Das said the ban was a conspiracy to take the limelight away from the child’s achievements.
”This ban will kill Budhia because he loves to run,” said Das. ”He has been running seven hours a day for a year now because all he knows is to run, eat and sleep.
”They always knew his capacity to run long distance, so why is a fuss being made now.”
Budhia has taken part in the Delhi half-marathon and other distance races across India but last week’s outing was much longer than the official marathon distance of 42km.
The medical report stated: ”Budhia clinically appeared undernourished with anaemia and angular stomatitis. His pulse and blood pressure were on the higher side.
”It is evident that the boy’s protein catabolism is more and he is under cardiological stress probably resulting from long distance running. If the boy continues to run for long distance, it may aggravate the condition, may even result in renal failure.”
The doctors also recommended further ”physiological assessment” of the child and wanted him to undergo a drugs test to see if Budhia had ”taken any steroid or banned substances”.
The child welfare department said Budhia must train under a qualified athletics coach — Das is a judo instructor — and his health should be monitored regularly.
Das had discovered Budhia’s astonishing running talent by chance.
”Once, after he had done some mischief, I asked him to keep running till I came back,” said Das. ”When I came back after five hours, I was stunned to find him still running.”
Budhia hails from a poor family. When his father died two years ago, his mother, who washes dishes in Bhubaneswar, was unable to provide for her four children and sold Budhia for 800 rupees ($20). – AFP
