CHENNAI: Hima Das will continue to train under 400m and relay coach Galina Bukharina despite focusing on 200m for the Tokyo Olympics. The star athlete will also travel with the quartermilers and the relay team to training bases in Europe. Hima had joined the national camp in Patiala last weekend after a two-week absence. According to Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) high-performance director Volker Herrmann, the 2018 Asian Games silver medallist was out due to some ‘sickness’.
However, there won’t be any change in her travel and training plans for the time being. “Galina is a highly qualified coach. She has coached 200m athletes also in the USA. As far as training is concerned, there is not much of difference between 200m and 400m. The endurance part is obviously there. But apart from that, it is more or less the same,” Herrmann said.
With the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams yet to qualify for Tokyo, there has been a lot of concern, with time running out. The likes of Dharun Ayyasamy, Arokia Rajiv and MR Poovamma among others faced spells on the sidelines last year. However, they are all back to full fitness and it is a matter of time before they make the cut according to Ayyasamy. “It is not possible to qualify for Olympics in the first Grand Prix itself as we have not competed in a while. But we will peak in time for the Federation Cup and some of the European competitions that have been planned,” Ayyasamy said.