KOCHI: The no-show of top race walkers Khushbir Kaur and Manish Rawat at the just-finished National Racewalking Championship has already cost the duo, with the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) tightening the screws on them. The duo has been omitted from the squad for the Asian Racewalking Championship, and it’s been learnt that the two will also be overlooked for the IAAF Racewalking Challenge that is slated to happen in China in April.
Unhappy with the way Russian coach Alexander Artsybashev has handled the issue, top bosses in the AFI revealed that they have expedited discussions with a former Australian racewalking head coach who may train the walkers with or without Alexander.
“We are planning to bring him in in one or two months,” said a senior AFI official. “There is no doubt whatsoever that Alexander is a good coach, as four of his boys clocked within one hour and 23 minutes at the beginning of the season. There’s three to four weeks left for the Asian Championship, and their present time augurs well. But, there is also little doubt over the fact that he’d slacked in handling the athletes. He was too soft on them as he had expected that the two would be given entry for the Asian event. He thought within two weeks of training, they could be in top form,” he added.
The AFI, however, refused to entertain the plea of the coach, and turned down his claim that athletes were down with fever. Khushbir, who is in SAI Bengaluru, said she was okay, but took orders from her coach and skipped the event. “Whom should I listen to? The AFI or the coach who has been entrusted the task of looking after me? He told me to give the event a miss, and I did that,” Khushbir said.
Rawat was not available on phone, but sources close to the Uttarakhand-born athlete said that he was in Delhi prior to the event, after being given an ultimatum by the AFI. “He came to Delhi before the event, and then left for Uttarakhand. Later, he returned after AFI tightened its stand, but didn’t participate in the competition,” said sources close to the athlete.
When contacted by Express, AFI director ML Dogra confirmed that they are on the lookout for a foreign coach, but added that the decision was taken to provide due attention to all walkers in the national camp.
“We want more than one coach to pay attention to all walkers in the camp. That’s why we are going for a foreign hire,” he said.
Currently, 12-14 athletes are under Artybashev, whose contract is valid only till March. “Alexander, being a SAI employee, should have handled the issue more sensibly. With his contract running out, this issue might create trouble for him. Our earlier plan was to keep two foreign coaches in the camp. With these new developments, it’s to be seen whether Alexander will be given another chance or not,” an AFI insider commented.
shan.as@newindianexpress.com