THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the crowd at Chandrasekhar Nair Stadium dispersed on Thursday, Athul T M, the new record holder in 100m Junior Boys, spotted Ram Kumar. The duo greeted each other by shaking hands, which later turned into a tight hug.
Heart-warming scenes unfolded during the finals of the much-awaited track events at the stadium here, as the 16-year-old Alappuzha native broke a 37-year-old record, held by Ram, at the Kerala State School Sports Meet.
The meet record for the 100m (Junior Boys) was 10.90 seconds, set in 1988. During the shortlisting heats held earlier in the day, Athul surpassed it with a time of 10.79 seconds, leaving even the authorities awestruck. In the finals, he recorded a time of 10.81 seconds.
Athul dedicates victory to his coach
Athul couldn’t contain his excitement. “I was unaware of my record performance in the heats. But I am super proud and happy with my achievement,” he said. Ram, the record holder from 1988, waited beside the track during the event. “I wanted my record to be broken. What is the point of holding on to an old record? Let new talents find their space,” Ram said.
Athul’s success did not come easily. Just like any other player who made it big, he too had been through the wringer.
Hailing from a financially weaker family, Athul had to manage injuries many times, said his coach, P S Samjee. “His father, an autorickshaw driver, met with a major accident sometime back, after which Athul appeared very low. Somehow, we brought him back, and here he is,” Samjee said. Athul, who won bronze last year, dedicated this year’s gold to his coach.
Even while participating in the Junior National Athletic Meet earlier this year, Athul suffered an injury to his right upper thigh, which coincided with his selection for the sub-district level. “He had to attend a special entry process for this meet, a usual procedure when students go for nationals,” said Brijith, Athul’s mentor-teacher. Training posed another challenge due to the lack of proper infrastructure in Alappuzha.
“We barely have a 200m synthetic track, but still we had to change our training patterns due to rain,” said Samjee. Since Athul is very young, hard training was not done. “Due to the weather, we trained less on speed and more on drills. Still, he managed to make it,” he said.