CHENNAI: India’s track and field athletes will soon be following a different plan as they get ready for the Olympics in 2021. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) was anticipating this decision from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the top coaches had already met on Tuesday to chart out a different training schedule if there was a postponement.
“This morning, we had a discussion with the coaches. The pressure was getting too high with many countries and athletes expressing the need to postpone the Olympics. So, we have some new plans and are waiting for the AFI’s approval.
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We were expecting 32 to qualify and our athletes were in great shape. I am sure they will be in better shape next year. But you have to change the preparation programme now. May be start by October or November. Because you can’t train for 15 months,” AFI high-performance director Volker Herrmann told this daily after news came in that the Games have been postponed.The AFI had sent out a questionnaire prepared by the World Athletes’ Commission to the Indian athletes to understand what they felt about the situation two days ago. With the latest decision, the AFI is relieved. It feels that the athletes would not have been in the right state of mind in training and preparation, while the rest of the population was suffering.
However, the biggest challenge according to them, is to make sure that the athletes stay fit and motivated.
To address the issue, there is a plan to host multiple events towards the end of the year. “The problem is, with the postponement, most of the other international meets also won’t happen. That means our athletes won’t have any competition for almost one year. And competition exposure is very important as far as Olympics is concerned. So what we have planned is to organise a series of competitions later this year provided the COVID-19 situation improves,” said Herrmann.
The German feels that the athletes who have already qualified do not have to worry about their participation in 2021. With the qualification period set to change, Herrmann believes more athletes will get a chance to qualify.
“As far as I know, the IOC is even thinking of extending the number of athletes. I think 55-60 per cent of them have already qualified. But there is still a chance for more athletes to qualify. And if that is the case, there is a possibility of lowering the qualifying standards. We will come to know in the next few weeks. Next year, we have the World Indoor Championships, World Relay Championships, World Championships, Asian Championships and the Olympic Games. So we also have to prioritise which one to go for. It’s very tricky.”