BHUBANESWAR: As the evening approached, and the last dregs of crimson melted in the dusk, the temperature dropped to around 29 degrees centigrade, promising it to be a comfortable evening. But the humidity never dipped and hovered around 98 per cent with overcast conditions. It was energy-sapping with sweat glands working overtime. There were some great performances in javelin, women’s sprints and jumps but was also affected by absentees at the starting line (DNS) – just like a domestic competition.
Yet, athletes from across the world went about their chores in the middle at the Kalinga Stadium during the World Athletics Silver Level meet on Saturday. The stands were packed with children from schools and every now and then a roar rose that kept the mood upbeat.
On a humid night, Rohit Yadav (javelin; second best this season after Neeraj Chopra’s 88.04m on Friday), Abinaya Rajarajan (personal best & U20 NR), M Sreeshankar and Ancy Sojan were some of the shining stars.
Abinaya let lose her own form of roar after crossing the finish line. A die-hard Cristiano Ronaldo fan, Abinaya recreated Ronaldo's trademark celebration: the 'siuuuu' with a half-turn and landing with wide stance with hands on the sides. “I was thinking how to celebrate when I win medal,” she said and decided on her favourite star’s style after clocking 11.34s, one of India’s medals at the WA silver meet here.
While conversing, the 19-year-old's spoke with clarity of thought. Life is freak and freakier still are the stars. As her career was taking wings, Abinaya’s dream was shattered on the crash wall of the indoor 60m track during the Asian Indoors in February. She hurt her leg that got stuck in between the crash wall and raised platform (for banking). “After finishing there was that crash wall where we have to go and hit like this (she gestures). And my knee went like this (points to her knee) and my ankle got stuck.”
Running an indoor tracks need practice, especially in sprints. The 200m tracks have raised banking and the 60m straight can be brutal if one doesn’t pay heed to the technique of deceleration. “I couldn’t decelerate that fast and it just happened in a fraction of second. I didn’t know what to do and it was bad and my legs were shivering,” she said. From meniscus to ACL, everything was hurt – scary for any athlete. Even her Asian Games chances seemed grim.
For Abinaya, the journey to elite level itself was strewn with hurdles. Hailing from Kalluthu, a small village near Alangulam, Tenkasi, she did not know what to do. It was after Covid when she started to take athletics seriously and it was not until she joined to train under Ramaiah Sreenivasan at the Sports Authority of India National Centre of Excellence that her career started to blossom.
Rajarajan, her father, was a small-time businessman dealing in quarry-related things and could not afford to meet her needs. The family shifted from the village to Tirunelveli where she enrolled herself into an academy.
"She did well in school level competitions and after a point we decided to move to Tirunelveli for her when she was in class XI,” said Rajarajan, who was by her side on Saturday. “We were living near Anna Stadium in Tirunelveli where she was training through her school days.” Once Abinaya was inducted in the NCOE in Thiruvananthapuram, her parents and sister moved back to the village, where Rajarajan used to supply equipment to quarry workers and because of advancement in technology, his business also suffered.
If Abinaya had to struggle in the early part of her life, the injury was a bigger setback as she was looking to enter her name in the 100m individual too. As of now, she is part of the 4x100m relay team. With this performance she is hoping for an individual entry.
“It was really difficult while recovery but my coach and physios at NCOE Thiruvananthapuram really helped,” she said, recovering was the most challenging part of her career. “Last five months have not been easy,” she said.
Rohit improves on PB
Javelin thrower Rohit Yadav improved on his personal best mark by hauling 87.68m in the men's final. “I have set my eyes on Asian Games,” he said after his performance.
Sprinters recall chicken pox episode
In the same 100m there was another sub-plot. Sprinters Srabani Nanda and Nithya Gandhe were roommates during their training stint in Spala, Poland. And both were down with chicken pox. It was Nithya who had a fever. Srabani left for India. Later, Nithya was diagnosed with chicken pox and had to stay in solitary isolation in one room for 12 days until she recovered. “It was like Covid and was taking a toll mentally,” Nithya said. “Imagine living in one room and not leaving it for two weeks. One can go mad. I have started to take load and train. This race was good considering I just recovered from chicken pox.”
Srabani, on the other hand, recovered at home in Bhubaneswar and ran her first competition after recuperating. “More than the timing, I was happy that I could compete ahead of the Asian Games,” Srabani said. "Asian Games is the ultimate goal," she said.