Sport - Athletics

Can Indian athletes sprint to glory?

By K.P. Mohan

NEW DELHI, AUG. 8. Three weeks from now, the Indian athletes would have completed their engagements in the Athens Olympic Games. Would India have, by then, written itself into the athletics medals tally of the Games for the first time since Independence?

From the 1948 Olympics through to the Sydney Games four years ago, India has had only five finalists in individual athletics events. They were, triple-jumper Henry Rebello (1948), quarter-miler Milkha Singh (1960), hurdler Gurbachan Singh Randhawa (1964), 800m-runner Sriram Singh (1976) and the greatest Indian woman athlete of our times, P.T. Usha (400m hurdles, 1984).

Every four years there is talk of Indians having reached world standards to the extent that last time a former National sprint champion predicted at least two places for India in the finals and a total of eight top-12 finishes among Indians.

Sydney syndrome

Sydney proved disastrous for the Indians, with none making the finals and only K.M. Beenamol reaching the semifinals in the 400m. Needless to say, no one performed close to what they had done at home to get into the team. In the end, the coaches and the federation found an excuse in the argument that the three-week gap from the Asian championships in Jakarta to the Olympics meant that the athletes were unable to reach a second `peak' as planned.

This time, the planning has been meticulous, or so we are told, and the majority of the athletes have spent much of their preparatory time in Ukraine, acclimatising with the weather and the changed time zone that should greet them in Athens.

Though the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has gone about the task methodically, a few of its moves have remained inexplicable and mysterious. Shielding shot putter Bahadur Singh and woman discus thrower Seema Antil from the final trials in Chennai and even from the Asian GP circuit and then rushing them off to Ukraine made little sense. Then why were they brought back from Kiev?

India's hope

The principal Indian hope at Athens is not going to come from the batch currently in Ukraine, but the lone athlete who is already in the Games Village in Athens. Anju George and husband-coach Bobby George have checked in early in order to get acclimatised and also to have access to the best of facilities for their final phase of preparations for about 20 days.

Not everything has gone off according to plans for Anju and Bobby in their quest for the elusive Olympic medal, but they are confident, as always, and have been able to focus on the task ahead rather than get bogged down by off-the-field hassles.

Both would not admit that the recent results as Anju wound up her competition phase in Europe, proved some sort of a setback towards the Olympics campaign, but looking at those results one is surely concerned. A 6.41m for the fourth place in Rome, followed by a 6.62m in Madrid (silver) and 6.60m in Stockholm (fifth place) were efforts that fell short of the standards Bobby had charted. She had a fever in Stockholm, but kept quiet about it lest the media should think that she was trying to find an `excuse.'

"But one more cycle and then I should be getting those 6.90s. It is bound to come, I am confident," said Anju the other day from Paris.

Anju felt that the gold in Athens could go for about 7-7.10m, silver around 6.95-7.00 and the bronze for about 6.95. She was confident of reaching close to the seven-metre mark, basing her prediction on the fact that her foul jumps this season, very narrow most of them, had touched seven.

Fouls have also pulled her back a little in her run-up to the Games since technical corrections for the final two strides made it all the more difficult for her to perform consistently in competitions.

Before we start pinning too high a hope on Anju, a few facts and figures that should put things in the right perspective. Anju's best this season is a legal 6.71m and a wind-aided 6.83m. The world-leader, Tatyana Lebedeva, has a 7.33m. American Marion Jones and Russians Tatyana Lebedeva and Irina Simagina have touched or crossed seven metres this season; Swede Carolina Kluft has a 6.97.

We haven't heard anything about world champion Eunice Barber of France after injury reportedly hampered her early preparations. Commonwealth Games champion Jamaican Elva Goulbourne, also a seven-metre jumper this season, has pulled out reportedly because of an injury.

When Anju won the historic bronze for the country at last year's World championships, as an `outsider', Lebedeva, Jones, Simagina and Kluft were not in the fray. Barber won the gold and Kotova took the silver.

The prayers and hopes of a nation that has not even dreamt of an athletics medal since P.T. Usha missed it by a whisker at Los Angeles in 1984, should be with Anju this time. She will face the first test at 9.20 p.m. IST on August 25, in the qualifying round, and at 8.05 p.m. on August 27 in the final.

What about the rest of the squad, numbering 18 on the last count?

That the AFI has kept a selection committee meeting on August 8, a bare 24 hours before the expiry of the deadline for confirmed athletics entries in Athens, might give one the impression that several others are still in the running.

At best the panel will formalise the exclusion of long jumper Amritpal Singh for lack of form and fitness. Apart from those qualified up to July 23, there are no more qualified athletes for consideration. Last time the Indian athletics squad numbered 30.

If there is any hope this time beyond Anju, it should be based on the record of discus thrower Neelam Jaswant Singh at last year's World championships. She made the final there, though finished poorly, at 12th with just 57.92m.

Since then Neelam has shown a fair amount of consistency, but has lost her National record of 64.55m to her younger rival, Seema Antil, who threw to 64.64 in Chennai. Her best this season is 63.99m. One more woman discus thrower has made it to the Olympics, but Harwant Kaur's mediocre level of 57-plus during the Asian GP circuit after a high of 62.61 in Ukraine should be causing concern.

Federation optimistic

The federation is quietly optimistic about the chances this time. It will be an achievement if any individual athlete, bar Anju, and to a lesser extent Neelam, makes it to the final.

K.M. Binu, who is running the 400m this season, instead of his pet 800m, is, however, confident that he would be able to crack the National record of 45.56s at Athens. He had clocked 45.59 here in the circuit meet to qualify.

"I am aiming for a time below 45 seconds," said Binu over phone from Yalta, Ukraine, on Friday as one talked about his final phase of preparations for his Olympic debut.

On the minus side should be his lack of race experience this season, shielded as he has been, like others, in Ukraine while the leading runners around the world have competed in eight to 10 top-level races.

With all the four women running below 52 seconds for the 400m, there is quite a debate within the circles about where the women's longer relay team will finish. Even something around 3:25 is being talked about and that might mean a top-6 finish. Past record is discouraging, however.

India, though an inexperienced team was fielded, clocked 3:42.25 to go out in the Paris World championships.

An experienced team timed 3:31.46 in the Sydney Olympics for the 15th place out of 21 finishers after having clocked a National record of 3:28.11 at home.

There surely is a great deal of difference between home-based records and Olympian feats, as the `Flying Sikh', Milkha Singh, keeps pointing out.

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