Do you know, Sunita won Gold in Beijing Olympics?

DO YOU know that besides the Indian sportsmen, who won medals in the Beijing Olympics, one Indian artist also made the country proud by winning the art competition at the Olympics. Sunita Lamba, who won the top art award, however, remains obscure, while India is hailing its three medalists, Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Kumar and Sushil Kumar and doling out rewards in cash and kind to them. This unsung Indian queen of the Olympics is still awaiting to be recognised.

For majority of the people, this name rings a surprise, but the lady has made Indians proud after winning the ’best artist’ award in the Global Fine Arts Competition-2008, jointly organised by the International Olympic Committee, the Chinese ministry of culture, the organising committee of XXIX Olympiad at China International Exhibition Centre.

While the three Indian medal winners have logged on countless hours on news channels and plenty of newsprint has been devoted to their exploits, no one has taken time to applaud the achievements of Lamba.

Entry into the Olympic Fine Arts Competition is a tough task and she managed entry after competing with 10,000 artists from 80 countries. Sunita’s 24-inch bronze sculpture titled ’Unity’ won the competition as it matched with the theme of the exhibition titled ’One World’. This exhibition will continue for 40 days and the artwork will be shown in various Chinese cities, as per the government plan.

Travesty of this victory lies in the fact that Indian authorities did not support the artist and she could not even meet the Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi as he refused to meet her.With no official support coming her way, Lamba arranged for the Beijing visit all alone and had to make all arrangements on her own.