Not losing track

The medal haul of the Indian athletics contingent at the recent Asian Athletics Championships as well as the Taiwan Athletics Open turned heads. Surely, there were many memorable performances, including Parul Chaudhary’s double silver medal winning act in the women’s 5,000 metres and in the 3,000 metres steeplechase. Nevertheless, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and the coaches working in the background are not getting carried away with the results. They are happy with the progression of athletes but are also mindful of the fact that the pathways to bigger prizes, the World Championships and Olympic medals, are still a little out of our grasp.

The overall medal haul of 24 — eight gold, 10 silver and six bronze — is India’s best-ever tally at an Asian Athletics Championships outside India.

Young javelin star Sachin Yadav, appearing in his first major meets, registered a throw of 85.16 metres to win silver behind the current Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, who clinched the gold medal with a throw of 86.60m.

Similarly, Animesh Kujur created history as he bettered his own national record by clocking 20.32 to win bronze in the men’s 200m. Jyothi Yarraji fought the rainy conditions and defended her Asian gold with a season’s best timing of 12.96 seconds in Gumi, South Korea. Little over a week later, the winnings did not stop. India topped the medals tally with 16 podium finishes at the Taiwan Athletics Open.

However, when you look at the world parameters, the Indian track and field stars have a long way to go. The World Championships are only a couple of months away and as of now, only five Indians have punched their automatic qualification cards for the September 13-21 event in Tokyo, Japan. Double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, steeplechase duo Avinash Sable and Parul, long distance runner Gulveer Singh and triple jumper Praveen Chithravel are the only ones who have qualified.

In events where Indians are betting big, the 4×400 and mixed team relays, the team failed to qualify at the World Relays and the Asian Championships meet. The men’s quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh smashed the Asian record in 2023 with an eye-catching time of 2:59.05 seconds to qualify for the finals of the World Championships to give a big scare to the USA team, eventually finishing second. It is a young team and the AFI is giving them a long rope in the hope that the team is ready for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics rumble.

“We are happy as it is a very young team. At the same time, we are not getting over-excited. As far as the AFI is concerned, these events are stepping stones towards the build-up for the 2028 LA Olympics. These events were step one of our long-term planning. Step two would be our performances at next year’s Asian Games and at the Commonwealth Games. Then, in 2027, we would encourage them to take part in the Diamond Leagues,” former AFI president and now spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla said about the recent results.

“The biggest roadblock (in our athletes’ development) were our coaches, who would stop them from competing in international events as they feared the athletes would get injured. So, it is our duty to give them the exposure of competing first at their level and then slightly higher. We are already sending our athletes to Spala, Poland, where they will train and compete in the European circuit. The players worldwide compete in at least 20 competitions before going into a major meet and we want our athletes to do the same,” he added.

Quality over quantity

The AFI is not content with the notion that if Indian athletes qualify for major meets, an automatic place on the squad is guaranteed. The key for them is to analyse whether the athlete in question can compete against the world’s best.

“We cannot get excited to set the qualifying mark. Can you compete, be in the final? We are considering how the Europeans select their teams. Do not send everyone that qualifies. Say, one is 54th ranked and qualifies but if you are not in mid table in the rankings, we will not send that athlete. Jeswin (Aldrin) went to the Olympics because Murali Shreesankar was injured. He was ranked 31st and finished five places above, but he was hammered by everyone. I am not saying he did badly, rather he did well but if you qualify 35th, you will come last or second last. We want to change this,” Sumariwalla said.

James Hillier, who is athletics director with the Reliance Foundation and is training India’s premier sprinters, including Jyothi, agrees that it is a work in progress. “We have some good results. Jyothi defended her title, which is not an easy thing to do. She went into the final ranked third, her Japanese and Chinese rivals were better prepared and despite the long rain delay she showed resilience and posted another sub-13 seconds timing, which was pleasing to see,” Hillier recounted. “Animesh was brilliant and posted another national record. All in all, it is good and there is an expectation from the Indian sprinters as everyone is desperate to see success. My job is to keep their feet on the ground so that they do not lose track and get distracted with all the press. We have to manage expectations,” he added.

Speaking specifically on Jyothi, Hillier said they were working on a few things that can help her to better timings.

“She is one of the best athletes from hurdle eighth to the finish line. Her challenge is to get faster in the first half. She has long legs and it looks as if she is skying the hurdle in an up and down motion. She has to train to attack and take off faster so that she reaches hurdle eighth quicker to be in the reckoning. If she is 3-4 metres behind, then it is all over,” he explained.

Parul’s coach Kalyan Chaudhary has set an eight-week programme as a build-up for the World Championships in September. “Everyone is happy that she broke the national mark and won medals, but they don’t see how much she works hard in the background. We did 28-day high-altitude training in Ooty in April and then began working on her hurdling technique. Now we are training in Bengaluru mostly in the mornings, where her timings, including every 1,000 metres, are being recorded,” Chaudhary said. “She has a running group that includes Avinash Sable and that is a big help. And we are polishing her in these coming weeks so that she is ready to perform at her optimum at the World Championships,” he added.

Looks like this new and young India is ready to surprise the world.

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