NEW DELHI: India’s status as a developing country in the field of race walking gained more traction on Saturday as the country booked all three available slots in the men’s 20 km race walking event at the upcoming World Athletics Championships in London.
The time to beat was one hour and 24 minutes, and three medal winners at the Max Bupa National Race Walking Championships beat the buzzer here on Saturday. Winner KT Irfan, second-placed man Devender Singh and bronze medallist Krishnan Ganapathi beat the clock.
When the unheralded Harminder Singh race-walked to a famous bronze in the men’s 20 km category at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Indians were still getting used to the idea of something to do with walking being classified as an Olympic event.
Seven years later, the cascading effect is still being felt. While the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has been lauded for the increased number of exposure trips over the last half-a-dozen years, Russian Alexander Artsybashev is the main reason behind the success story.
There are obviously desi coaches who deserve a pat on the back, but here’s a small example: the Russian trains Irfan, Devender and Ganapathi. Here’s a little primer of the situation that existed in 2011, the year Artsybashev came to India. “When I first set up a national camp then,” he remembers, “two people showed up.”
The dire situation made him restructure the country’s race walking programme. “I sat down with the federation and we identified 48 athletes who had shown some potential. They trained together every day, taking the recommended supplements. Now, several of those 48 have been to the Olympics.”
That 48 also includes Sandeep Kumar (who bettered his own 50 km national-record mark on Saturday) and Irfan, who finished 10th at the London Games.
“After 2012, we moved to the second stage where we accelerated the training programme,” Artsybashev, whose English is heavily accented, says. What did that step involve? Here’s how he got creative. The country held Open National Championships and similar competitions with international judges.
The reason was of sound logic. “When international judges keep seeing Indian competitors at international events as well as the ones here, they will see them on a continuous basis. Once that happens and if the racers are established, they will think twice before disqualifying them.
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Exposure trips increased thanks to AFI, and that directly resulted in better performances and more people signing up for the sport. How long will the positive bounce last? Artsybashev has set his next target. “We have come top or near that in Asia. Next, the world.”
swaroop@newindianexpress.com