Aravinn’s out– but gets American consolation
Sprinter G. Aravinn Thevarr (pic) has been dropped from the national team after failing to produce results in competitions last year. But he has some consolation. He can continue to train under American coach Dwayne Miller.
The Perak-born 200m runner, who failed to qualify for Philippines SEA Games last year, has been told he is no longer part of the national squad from March 31.
Aravinn, who won bronze in the 200m in the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in 2017, has been given permission by the National Sports Council to train under the 55-yearold Miller, who has been Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) technical director since last October.
“Miller believes I have the potential to be a top 200m sprinter. He is doing all he can to help me improve my endurance and speed,” said the lanky, 27-year old Aravinn, who admitted his performances last year was disappointing.
“Miller is helping me to improve my run at the bends to make sure I run a consistent race from start to finish.
“He believes I can dip below 21s in competitions this year,” said Aravinn, who has a personal best of 21.04, which he did en route to gold in the Singapore Open in 2016.
“Failing to qualify for the Philippines SEA Games was a lesson to me that I cannot take it easy in training and competitions as other national sprinters like Australiabased Russel Nasir Taib and Jonathan Nyepa have made steady progress by dipping below 21s,” said Aravinn.
“I will face a strong challenge from them to win a place in next year’s SEA Games in Hanoi as the qualifying mark is 20.78 (the silver medal winning mark of the Philippines Games) and it is really going to be an uphill task to surpass that time in competitions next year,” he said.
Malaysia-born Russel, who is based in Brisbane, holds the national record of 20.77, which he set in the Queensland Track Classic last March. In the SEA Games, he clocked 21.11 to bag the bronze.
Sarawakian Jonathan clocked a personal best of 20.92 in the Georgia, United States, last April.