KOCHI: For the likes of Jisna Mathew and Noah Nirmal Tom, the upcoming inter-state senior athletics championship starting from Friday (June 25-29) is all about shaking off rustiness and getting ready for the Tokyo Olympics. Jisna, one of the famed quartets of 4x400m women’s relay team, had a modest performance in her first major competition during the Indian Grand Prix 4 on June 21. In 400m she clocked 55.51s.
However, Jisna’s coach PT Usha believes that she will get into her stride soon. Competing after a long period, according Usha had a bearing in her performance. “I think she was not able to pace herself during the competition. It was down to not competing for such a long time and that can have an impact on anyone. It creates excitement, a little bit of tension and the body is also not fully in that mode to race.
I think she will be more prepared for the inter-state championship and she will be competing to win it,” said Usha from Patiala. As for Noah Nirmal Tom, it will be about focusing on improving his timings. Noah will be racing in the 400m and is also expected to feature in the men’s 4x400m relay, that is placed last at No 16 in the Road to Tokyo. After the disappointment of not being able to travel for international meets recently, Noah is hoping to use the Patiala meet to improve his personal timings.
“I think the focus for me would be to run my personal best and focus on improving my timings. If I can focus on that and get the best out of myself, then it will help me going into the Olympics. It was disappointing that we weren’t able to travel abroad for the international meets but the idea is now to make the most out of this. No point looking back now,” he said.