KOCHI: India had to wait a long time for a gold medal in the triple jump event at the Asian Games. That 48-year drought was ended by Arpinder Singh at Jakarta. Arpinder bagged gold with an effort of 16.77 metres and as Eldhose Paul produced a personal best of 16.95m at the recently concluded Indian Grand Prix-2 in Thiruvananthapuram, the Kerala native believes that he could be in the reckoning for a medal at the Games set to be held in Hangzhou.
The 25-year-old has been in good form as he had produced an effort of 16.93m at the Indian Open Jumps Competition before improving his performance at the IGP-2. Eldhose has already met the qualification standards for the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games.
The Ernakulam native said that he was hoping to hit his peak around the May-June period and he is still in pre-competition mode at the moment. "I hadn’t done any specific preparations for these meets because I was just starting the season. I'm still in a pre-competition mode because you don't want to peak right now and the training is not in full swing," Eldhose said.
"It is about gradually progressing so that when the big events come around, you can produce your best performance. It is a big year with the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games as well as the World Championships. Having produced these jumps and knowing that I can do better, there is belief that I can finish on the podium at the Asian Games. It’s all about training hard and staying focused," he added.
Eldhose didn't always consider himself a medal prospect or a serious athlete and it was only in college that he decided to take the plunge.He started participating in athletic meets during his time at MA College in Kothamangalam, which is considered a nursery of emerging athletes.After being trained by veteran coach TP Ouseph, the youngster has not looked back.
"Once I started training with Ouseph sir and began participating in a lot of events in college, I felt I could pursue athletics in a serious way. In that sense, it's been only a few years that I've been fully focussed on the track. Things have gone well so far and I hope to try and continue improving," said Eldhose.
Having also tried out disciplines like pole vault and cross country running, he began to focus on triple jump and with a big year ahead, Eldhose is fully dedicated to try and cross the 17m mark. "The key thing is to maintain the performance through the season. The target is to try and cross the 17m mark and I'm working towards that. The way things are shaping up, I hope to do well in all the big events," he said.