Deepika is face of her dad’s Olympic Gold Quest

MUMBAI - Actress Deepika becomes the face of her father, ace badminton player Prakash Padukone’s organisation Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ).

I am the face of Olympic Gold Quest. I have just come on board. Olympic Gold Quest is training our athletes for the Olympics in 2012, Deepika told IANS in an interview.

Prakash Padukone launched OGQ a few years back with billiards player Geet Sethi. The negligence of the government towards the athletes made them set up the organisation, which is being funded by corporates and individuals to produce some world-class sportsmen.

Not enough is being done. In the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, we have proved that there is enough talent in our country. Not enough is being done in terms of promoting the talent,” said Deepika.

“Government is not taking enough care of our athletes. Thats why my father and Geet Sethi have set up Olympic Gold Quest, which is a non-profit organisation and the funds come from corporate houses. All of us can also contribute individually, Deepika stressed.

The fund is used to train athletes. Whether it is tennis, badminton, their coaching, OGQ will take care of their equipment, uniforms and whatever else is required, she said.

Sportsmen like Leander Paes, Viswanathan Anand are already on board. Hockey Olympian Viren Rasquinha is the chief executive of OGQ.

Performance in sports also marks a country’s development, says Deepika.

I think the laurels that a sportsperson brings to the country are also a kind of development. Today, when we talk about America or Australia - these are the countries which are very, very popular in sports as well. So, its not only the economic, political or infrastructural development, even sports can put you up there on the world map, said Deepika.

The actress maintains that the organisation would soon felicitate the Commonwealth and Asian games winners.

We will be felicitating OGQ athletes, who performed well in the Asian Games and in the Commonwealth Games, said Deepika.