WATCH: Lakshya Sen's coach Prakash Padukone asks athletes to put up better show, backs government's efforts at Paris Olympics 2024

Prakash Padukone asked the Indian athletes to put better performances at the Olympics in the future. The Badminton coach felt it was not just up to the government to oversee the funding that goes into Sports but the players had to take up the responsibility to stand up and perform under pressure. Prakash was not happy with some athletes who ended up losing from dominating positions in the match.

The coach of Lakshya Sen spoke to the media after his loss in the Bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics. When asked about the collectively bad efforts from some of the athletes, Padukone felt that all the finance and support needed for the athletes were given, and yet the players failed to perform in crunch situations.

Watch Prakash Padukone's statement here -

"It's high time players take responsibility. The Govt & Federations have done whatever they can. Players are not working hard enough"



Prakash Padukone woke up and chose violence 🔥 pic.twitter.com/FhbxK3nxK9

— BALA (@erbmjha) August 5, 2024

The former Indian Badminton star said that the current government has been doing a lot for the players encouraging them to win medals. He felt the funding for some of the athletes is so big that some of the other countries like the USA do not spend such an amount on some of their athletes for their nutrition coaches and other roles.

'It's high time our players step up and win as expected' - Prakash Padukone

"All the support and finances needed to perform at the top level were given to the Indian players. It's not like earlier times when our players lacked facilities and funds. So, it's high time our players step up and win as expected," said Prakash Padukone. Many Indian athletes like Sen, Manu Bhaker, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Ankita Bhakat, and others finished fourth in their events.

Prakash felt it was not right on the athletes and the fans to shift the blame on the government for their failures. He claimed that the government can only do as much from their end and everything depends on the athletes to perform when it matters. The statement of Prakash has gone viral on social media with mixed opinions from the fans.