RANCHI: In his quest to achieve his Asian Games dream, Shivaji Parashuram M had expended every ounce of his energy during the men's 10,000m final just a few days ago. So much so that he had fainted on the finish line. However, all that had gone in vain as he was disqualified for violating lane norms in National Senior Athletics Federation competition at the Birsa Munda Football Stadium here. That had taken a toll on him mentally and his confidence had taken a massive nosedive. However, Shivaji put that setback aside to pull off a notable victory in the men's 5000m final on Monday.
The 22-year-old from Karnataka stopped the clock at 14:14.13 seconds to emerge victorious. While that timing was not enough to breach the Commonwealth Games mark (13:19.64s), it fell under the qualification mark for the Asian U23 athletics championship in China. Given what he had been through not so long ago, this was a big shot in the arm for him.
"At the 10,000m final, I was trying to breach the qualification mark for the Asian Games. I was leading and doing well for most of the race. Then, I started feeling weird in the last three laps. I didn't know what was happening, I felt unconscious," he told The New Indian Express.
"I came here wanting to do well in my pet event, in a meet like the Federation competition. My body did not feel good, I was mentally shattered after getting hospitalised. But thanks to my coaches and the staff from Reliance Sports Foundation, I found my way back," he said.
His coaches — Ajith Markose from Reliance Foundation, Vishwanath Gowda from DYES, Bengaluru and Prakash Revanthkar, his first coach from Karwar — played a pivotal role in helping him find his range ahead of his latest test. "They told where I went wrong, they helped me rectify the mistakes and kept motivating me. I didn't want to call anyone back home because they were already nervous," he said.
In his latest outing, Shivaji was locked in from the word go. He took a patient approach and gradually got past his fellow competitor. Coming into the final stretch, Shivaji's smile grew wider and as he finished on top.
Having had his confidence restored, Shivaji is now aiming to breach the qualification mark for the Asian Games later this year.
"I hope to qualify and do well in Japan," he said.
Long walks to distance runner
Shivaji recalled how he had to walk to school from his home at Adakinakalla Belavatagi in Hariyala Taluk, which is bordered by a forest. "We walked around five kilometres a day to go to school growing up. But my first tryst with long-distance running came when I joined the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports’ (DYES ) sports hostel in Karwar with coach Prakash. There, I started with 1500 and 3000m in 2018, but the longer distances was where I felt belonged," he explained.
After spending six years with DYES across two cities — Karwar and Bengaluru — Shivaji moved to the Sports Authority of India, before joining Reliance last year.
