RANCHI: There was a sense of calmness as the sun went down at the Birsa Munda Football Stadium, Ranchi on Thursday. Come dawn on Friday, there will be a different kind of energy among the athletes who feature in the all-important National Senior Athletics Federation Competition at the venue.
The event serves as the final selection trials for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow later this year. With most of the qualifying marks for events better than current national records, athletes are expected to put in their personal best performance. For some, like the 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze (high jump) and Asiad silver medallist (decathlon) Tejaswin Shankar, the road to Glasgow looks clear.
Taking part in both high jump and decathlon, his personal bests (2.29m in high jump and 7826 points in decathlon, both national records) in both events are better than the qualification marks (2.22m and 7787 pts.).
"The reason I am choosing combined events is that there is another high-jump event amongst 10 other events. If I put on a good performance that I qualify for high-jump in the decathlon, I think that's unprecedented. I always try to make such challenges in my mind so that I can add new challenges. And I got some excitement from my own performance. But my goal in CWG will be to compete in the decathlon event because it is the toughest event of track and field," he told reporters on Thursday.
However, his participation in two events at the CWG, if he qualifies, will be decided by the AFI. “I think their input becomes very important on what will be the best combination. Because high-jump happens after the decathlon. So, I might not be able to give my best at that event after 10 events,” he said.
But he is not leaving any stone unturned. He said that preparing for the conditions here in Ranchi is essential. “What makes most of the difference is the weather. I have been training for two days. I have to bear the elements. It's not even when you do the event. You don't feel tired at that time. But, when you wait for the event, it accumulates. That's very important. That's why I came here for training,” he said.
With temperatures expected to rise up to 40 degree Celsius in the next few days, the schedule such that it does not make athletes participate under the hot sun. “Luckily, the schedule is such that you start at 7 AM. Morning session ends at 9-10 AM. We can skip the peak heat. I think 6 PM onwards is better. Something else that's good is that the humidity is less. I remember in the 2023 Senior inter-state meet in Bhubaneswar, I was worried when it would end. The humidity was very high," he said.
In addition to managing the heat levels, managing the events under decathlon will be something that the Asiad and commonwealth games medallist will keep in mind. “Many times we think of the combined events or the decathlon as 10 different events, but actually, it's just one event. So you have to lose some points to gain some points. The mindset for this competition is that if I can accumulate as many points as possible in my areas of strength, then there will be at least one or two weaknesses. So, I think it's the overall score that matters. I will try to give a well-rounded performance and if I get a little less performance in one or two places, then I will gain from the other place,” he said.