BHUBANESWAR: On a fine morning here, long-distance runners thrived to put up a quality performance to grab eyeballs. As many as four athletes in the men’s 10,000-metre event bettered the Asian Games qualification mark (29:30.00 seconds) set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on the opening day of the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium. It was Kartik Kumar from Uttar Pradesh who topped the charts with an effort of 29:01.84 secs. Gulveer Singh, also from UP, was not far behind with an effort of 29:03.78 secs. Not only did the UP duo better the Asiad qualification mark, they also improved the meet record of 29:06.17 secs. The former meet record was held by Surendra Singh since 2007. Kartik’s delight was visible on his face. After this monumental effort, the 24-year-old has his sights on Asian Games, which is scheduled to be held from September 23 to October 8.
“My next goal is to win a medal at the Asian Games,” Kartik said in a post-race interaction.
The race was certainly high-quality as Pritam Kumar of Delhi and Harman Jot Singh of Madhya Pradesh also had a creditable outing with both bettering the Asiad qualification mark. While third-placed Pritam clocked 29:22.36s, Harman clocked 29:26.86s. However, it should be noted that the AFI will be picking just two names for the upcoming Games.
Quarter-miler Anjali Devi also put up a notable show during the women’s 400m heats. The Haryana sprinter clocked 52.89 secs while winning heat one, breaching the Asian Games qualification mark in the process (52.96 secs).
Returning Nirmala in semis
The ongoing championships is a vital event for athletes ahead of the gruelling season ahead. It is the same for quarter-miler Nirmala Sheoran, who is making a return after suspension.
The Haryana athlete clocked 55.07 sec in the heats, an effort that helped her qualify for the women’s 400m semifinal. Nirmala was slapped with a four-year ban in 2019 for testing positive for banned substances. She maintained her innocence. “I was innocent. In our country, we are seriously lacking sports science.
Being a village girl, I never knew which supplements I should take or not. In the open market, plenty of such products are also available now. The athletes need a lot of guidance and proper education to avoid such incidents.”
Results (all finals)
Men: 10,000m: Kartik Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 29:01.84 secs, Gulveer Singh (UP) 29:03.78 secs, Pritam Kumar (Delhi) 29:22.36 secs.
20km race walk: Sandeep Kumar (Haryana) 1:27:12s, Servin S (Tamil Nadu) 1:28:21s, Hardeep (Haryana) 1:28:57s. Women: 10,000m: Seema (Himachal Pradesh) 34:20.01s, Sanjivani Jadhav (Maharashtra) 34:34.10s, Poonam Dinkar (Maharashtra) 34:45.42s. 20km race walk: Bhavna Jat (Rajasthan) 1:37:03s, Priyanka Goswani (UP) 1:40:33s, Vandana (Karnataka) 1:41:54s.