CHENNAI: In the age of hyper-social media, distance seldom matters. Even in sports. Take this unusual story of Rezoana Mallick Heena, a 16-year-old runner from Bengal. Spotted through Instagram posts, training in Bengaluru and now she has just shattered a decade-old U-16 400m national record. In the process, she outperformed her seniors and peers as well.
Heena touched the tape with a timing of 53.22 seconds which was better than rising quarter-miler Priya Mohan's 53.55s of Karnataka in U-20 and Dandi Jyothika (53.26s) in seniors of Andhra Pradesh during the National Open 400m Championships at Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
Muhammed Ajmal of Kerala won gold with a timing of 46.90 in men's 400m followed by Rahul Ramesh Kadam of Maharashtra (47.51) and Santosh Kumar of Tamil Nadu (47.72). In the senior women's section, Aishwarya Mishra of Maharashtra was second with a timing of 53.49 while Kiran Pahal of Haryana clocked 54.29.
What seems interesting is the journey of the Bengal girl. Hailing from a small town in Nadia district, she was spotted through Instagram posts. "I spotted and got in touch with her through Instagram posts," said Arjun Ajay, Heena's coach. She has been training at his academy Top Gun Track and Field Academy in Bengaluru since 2021.
It was not difficult for Ajay to convince her parents. Coming from a not-too-well-off family, Arjun had to take care of her training and stay. "Her family is not well-off and I told them how much ever you can manage, you manage, I will take care of her training and other needs associated with the sport," he said. Interestingly, even Priya is helping in managing her. "In fact, Priya and I manage her."
The coach said that she has been training from an early age. "I think she has been training from the age of eight. And I think she was following me on Insta." Ajay then talks about how she saw her train on Insta. "I think she was training by a river and I was impressed with her training and thought she would be a good runner," he said. "Her step jumps and runs on the grass were quite good too. I thought maybe I can work on her. I just asked her and the family was ready and she obviously knew that I was Priya's coach and that's how she started training with me."
The way she is shaping up, Arjun felt she could be even better than Priya and would be among the top runners in the country. "I knew she had the potential and at the same time, I have also gained some more experience as a coach after Priya. And that will help her to become a better athlete. I am upgrading myself as a coach as well. If I give them a target of sub-50, I am sure it can be done."