CHENNAI: Three major meets — World Championships, Commonwealth and Asian Games — would keep athletes glued to the track and field for most of the second half of the year. The preparation has begun at home and as they shift gears from training to pre-competition mode, a bunch of top athletes (quarter-milers and women sprinters) have moved base to Antalya, Turkey. Interestingly, going by the AFI list MR Poovamma (400m) and Dutee Chand (national record-holder over 100m) are not part of the team.
With the calendar getting intense with the Worlds in July followed by the Commonwealth Games a few weeks later, the athletes would be looking to get into competition mode by June-July. Inter-state senior athletics in Chennai would be the gauging competition for all. According to the Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla, inter state would be mandatory for all athletes and those who qualify for the Worlds and the Commonwealth Games would be sent to Europe for training and competition.
According to the AFI chief, athletes would also compete in as many quality local events as possible. "They would not just train but compete in local competitions," said Sumariwalla. "They need competitions and if we see there is not enough then we will rethink." Calling the athletes back and making them compete in national meets is not ruled out. With the next two Indian Grands Prix slated for May 17 and 21 in Madurai, it needs to be seen if top quarter-milers and sprinters manage to participate (the Antalya trip will run till June 6). However, the AFI said it is mandatory for all athletes. "We will want all our athletes to compete at the inter-state athletics in Chennai in June," he said.
The middle and long-distance team that was supposed to leave for the US is still completing their visa formalities. Avinash Sable (steeplechaser) and coach Scott Simons are already in the US while others have been waiting for visas. According to the AFI chief, it's due to the unavailability of appointment dates. "We are working on it and would be sorted out soon," he said.
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, who is already training in Antalya, would continue training there. Chopra will enter competition mode at the Pavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland. According to earlier plans envisaged by his team including his coach German Klaus Bartonietz, Doha Diamond League was the starter before moving to Europe. But because he needed some more training, they have skipped Doha. He is expected to compete at the Stockholm Diamond League in July before moving to the US for the Worlds. Chopra could be one of those athletes who may skip the inter-state. The AFI said it all depends on his coach and if he thinks he needs to train or compete elsewhere, AFI would consider.
The race-walking camp that was going on in Bengaluru has shifted to Patiala. There have been murmurs that there had been issues between coaching staff and athletes in Bengaluru, but AFI clarified that the camp was shifted to have a better monitoring mechanism. "Since the chief national coach is in Patiala, we thought it would be prudent for the athletes to train there. Race-walking is one of the identified sports for the future where we have potential of doing well in the world arena. So we want to closely monitor their progress."
Interestingly, M Sreeshankar has been included in the national camp in NCOE Bengaluru. He had skipped the national camp in October last year. This time, however, the AFI chief said they had a discussion before naming him in the camp and he would train under new horizontal coach Dennis Kapustin. He was told that he would train under the foreign coach and his father too would be there as assistant coach.