Savinder ready to go the distance after Kenya training stint
KUALA LUMPUR: Middle distance runner Savinder Kaur (pic) is convinced she can set a new personal best after undergoing a gruelling 40-day training stint in Kenya.
The Selangor athlete, who only gets a training allowance of RM500 a month, forked out RM8,000 to train in Iten, a top training centre which has produced a number of world champions.
Savinder, who arrived home last week, is eyeing a breakthrough at the Malaysian Grand Prix at the National Sports Council (NSC) Training Track in Bukit March 30-31.
The 22-year-old Savinder feels that she’s physically and mentally in good shape.
“The stint was very demanding as I ran with the top female Kenyans. And now I’m ready to clock a good time in the 1,500m in the Malaysian GP,” said Savinder.
She did a personal best of 4:42.75 in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Ipoh last September, beating her previous time of 4:46.83 at the 2017 KL SEA Games last August.
“There’re two things I’m aiming for at the GP - a personal best and Jalil on the gold medal. Hopefully, there will be foreign athletes in the event as I want to compare my performance with theirs.
“My mission this year is to qualify for the Philippines SEA Games (December),” added Savinder, who will also feature in the 800m in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Her personal best in the 800m is 2:11.95 posted at the Asian Junior Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2016.
Savinder featured in her first SEA Games in KL two years ago and finished fourth in the 1,500m and fifth in the 800m.
She is now looking for stronger opposition and has made a request to the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) to send her to the Australian Open in Sydney from April 1-7.
“I want to compete against the top runners as this will push me to clock better times,” said Savinder, who received an invite from former Asian Games gold medallist B. Rajkumar to train in Kuala Kubu Baru.
But Savinder turned down the offer as she prefers to train under current Selangor coach Samuel (Kisang Rono) of Kenya.