Indian Olympian Srihari Nataraj Alleges Airline Mistreatment After National Games

Srihari Nataraj, one of three swimmers that represented India at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games last summer, is claiming he and his teammates were mistreated by an airline upon their return from India’s National Games on Sunday.

In a series of Tweets directed at Indian airline IndiGo, Nataraj says the staff “behaved badly” towards the swimmers due to the extra baggage they had—the medals they won at the National Games the week prior.

The 21-year-old also said they were charged a “hefty amount” for carrying excess baggage on the flight, though that’s likely just airline procedure.

“I was returning from the National Games held in Gujarat, and the staff not only behaved badly but also charged us a hefty amount for excess baggage which was the medals and goodies that we athletes had won,” he said in a tweet.

“Honestly, the amount wasn’t an issue, it’s the way they treated me and my teammates. Should we leave the medals we win back at the venue?”

Honestly, the amount wasn’t an issue, it’s the the way they treated me and my teammates.
Should we leave the medals we win back at the venue?🤔 @IndiGo6E

— Srihari Nataraj OLY (@srihari3529) October 10, 2022

The airline offered a response via Tweet on Monday.

Nataraj was coming off a massively successful performance at India’s National Games, winning six gold medals. This included a trio of individual meet records in the men’s 100 freestyle (50.41), 50 backstroke (25.65) and 100 backstroke (55.80), and he also won the 50 free and added two relay titles while competing for the Karnataka region.

The event, which features teams from all 28 states and eight union territories in India, ran from Sept. 29 until Oct. 10 in Gujarat, India. The pool swimming portion took place from Oct. 2-8.

At Tokyo 2020, Nataraj competed in the men’s 100 backstroke, placing 27th in a time of 54.27.

He was India’s top performing swimmer at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, finishing fifth in the men’s 50 back (25.27), seventh in the 100 back (54.31) and ninth in the 200 back (2:00.84), setting a new National Record in the latter.