BENGALURU: Karnataka’s Priya H Mohan has been a busy girl of late. Though the 17-year-old managed to break national meet records in the 200m and 400m (both in U-18 category) in the South Zone Junior Athletics Championship in Kozhikode, which concluded on Sunday, she did not have time to celebrate. She boarded a bus for Bengaluru the same evening.
After reaching the city the next morning, the second PU student from Mount Carmel College had breakfast and started to prepare for maths exams, scheduled a few hours later.
“It does get difficult when it comes to coping with both athletics and academics, but my teachers are very helpful. Even in the lead up to the competition, I was preparing for my exams during my spare time, mostly on my rest days,” Priya told TNIE.
“I am pleased that I was able to do well in south zone, but I know I can still improve.”
Priya, who did not feature in a single event in 2020 due to Covid-19, has participated in two events this year, including the junior nationals and the south zone competition. If she managed a bronze (200m) and gold (400m) in the former earlier last month, it was her performance in Kozhikode, which stood tall. She finished first with a timing of 24.64s in the 200m. Her 54.84s finish in the 400m helped her attain qualification mark for the World Junior Championship in Kenya, claimed her coach Arjun Ajay. The qualification mark stands at 54.85s.
“She has qualified, but she can do better than this. Our aim is to finish with a medal in the junior worlds,” said Arjun. If one looks at her timings, she has done much better in the past, including the 2019 South Asian Games in Nepal, where she clocked 54.31.
In order to improve her timings, she has been putting all the effort with her coach. She also went to Ooty for high altitude training from September to December. With better competition, Arjun feels her timings can get better in 400m.
“After the first 200m, there is no competition for her. She is running a lone race. She has to learn to go for a killer race even when in lead. I am sure, her timing will improve leaps and bounds if there is stronger competition. For example, if she competes in the senior category, her timings will automatically improve,” said the coach.