KOCHI: As the Rio Olympics draws closer, India continue to stack up more athletes with a ticket for the mega event, courtesy their impressive showings. After crossing the 100-mark barrier in recent days, two more track and field athletes were added to the numbers on Sunday.
At the last Olympics in London, 83 had made the cut — the highest number ever for the nation. With the spike in numbers (108 and counting), there is more excitement, and not to mention taller ambitions.
On Saturday, it was Dutee Chand and Muhammad Anas who produced remarkable runs to add to the tally. While sprinter Dutee became the first-ever athlete to qualify in 100m since PT Usha in 1980, quarter-miler Anas did just enough to seal the deal.
To provide more delight for Indian fans, Odisha’s Srabani Nanda and long jumper Ankit Sharma became the latest to qualify on Sunday. If women’s 4x400 relay team is counted, India will have 27 in athletics, better than Sydney (24). “Though qualifying for the Olympics was my dream, I still can’t believe that I’ve done just that,” Anas told Express. He broke the 400m national mark during the Polish Athletics Championship in Bydgoszcz.
Anas’ former coach PB Jayakumar was delighted for the 21-year-old. “He is very grounded and takes each win in his stride. He’s a warrior who puts everything into the race. You can’t see him his armour because he wears it inside, close to his soul,” he said. “That’s his speciality. And that makes him a deadly competitor.”
Srabani’s story is about trials and tribulations. Being touted as a talent to watch for in the junior circuit, her career failed to take off. Srabani’s resurrection started taking shape in the last two seasons. In Dutee’s absence — out due to hyperandrogenism — Srabani asserted herself. She clocked 23.07s in the 200m event during the 26th G Kosanov Memorial atheltics meet in Almaty (Kazakhstan) to realise her dreams.
Now, Srabani is thrilled to be in the team. Training in Europe made a big difference to her.
“I’ve been training in Europe for the last two months, and I learned that I need to fine-tune my technique. Internationally-renowned runners pace their race meticulously. I used to employ both tricks: keeping the pace up and going all out. After competing internationally, I learned that going all out won’t serve my cause. So, I began keeping pace and that helped me here.”
shan@newindianexpress.com