Sudha Singh to stay at NIS; focuses on training
LUCKNOW: Staying within the confines of NIS, Patiala is becoming the new normal for top Indian athletes as they don’t want to go home and risk being infected with corona virus, as this could jeopardise their dream of winning medals for the country.
Ace steeplechaser and Asian Games medallist Sudha Singh is one such athlete, who despite staying at the premier sports institute since March, doesn’t want to visit her family for a few days as she is apprehensive of getting infected.
“I don’t want to risk myself and there is every chance of being infected if I visit home (Rae Bareli) as managing things at home would be quite difficult. At home, I have to run on the roads for my routine fitness and endurance training, and that would be a risky affair,” said Sudha.
“Even if things remain normal at home, I have to be quarantined after reaching home and again go through the same process once I come back to the camp. So it is better not to go home and meet the family,” she said, adding, “I am in constant touch with the family.”
Gold medallist at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou and silver medallist at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, Sudha aims for her last shot at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. “It’s my dream to finish on a high and it would be very satisfying for me, if I manage a podium finish in Tokyo,” said Sudha, who will be 35 by the time the Olympics are round the corner.
The athlete, who will try to qualify for the marathon in Tokyo, says that if the Olympics were to be re-scheduled one more time, she would hang up her boots after the 2022 Asian Games. “What if the 2021 Olympics are postponed or cancelled one more time? I would try to win a medal at the 2022 Asian Games and say goodbye to the sport, but for sure I am not going to quit without winning one more medal.”
Better known as ‘Rae Bareli Express’, Singh, who also has a gold medal and three silver medals at Asian Championships between 2009 and 2017, has been running quite well to achieve the qualifying mark.
“I am capable of qualifying in both steeplechase (9.30 sec) and marathon (2:29.30 sec) but now focused to marathon only. I have chance to qualify at the Japan event in December, if it is not cancelled, before trying my luck for yet another qualifying at the Mumbai marathon in January next,” said Sudha, who is within the qualifying time limit during her training for 21 km now.
“Besides running 21-km within the qualifying time limit now days, I am focused to endurance and strength training as I am expecting my peak for December-January events,” said Sudha, who had a 19th place finish in marathon at the 2015 World Championship at Beijing with a timing of 2:35.35 sec.
While praying for the early recoveries of all six men hockey players including skipper Mandeep Singh, who were found corona positive and recovering now days at Bengaluru, Sudha said the for her age is just a number.
“Yes, age is a just a number for me as even after winning my first gold medal in 2010 at just 24, I have been dreaming for a podium finish and I am very sure of qualifying for the my third Olympics,” Singh said on Wednesday. “Had age been a problem, I would have not won a silver medal at 32 at Jakarta Asian Games in 2018.”
“It’s all in your mind. Stamina and courage to achieve success keep you motivating and I am a firm believer of this policy. In fact, I never thought about my age while running on the track and always try to draw inspirations from other ageing athletes who have on medals at the top level.”
“Even before 2018 Jakarta Games, I was discouraged by many because of my age but I proved my critics wrong and won a silver medal. I know that even at 35, I would be able to do well in marathon.”
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Singh fell ill after competing and returned to India where she was diagnosed with swine flu. She finished 13th in steeplechase at 2012 Summer Olympics in London.