How the system kills our athletes
national coach JS Saini feels the boy has potential and can break the 45sec barrier, “if nurtured properly”.
He points to the innate lethargy in the system, which stalls the athletes’ progress. “If athletes from countries like Sri Lanka can go below 45sec, why can’t we?” asks Saini.
During the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, Odisha’s Amiya Mallick clocked 21.33 to win bronze in 200m. A decade later, he is in the same zone. At the Asian Championship at Bhubaneswar last year, he clocked 21.03, a marginal improvement.
“Systematic training is missing at the junior level. After doing well in age group events, I increased my training load. But, instead of showing signs of improvement, I started getting injured frequently, thus missing training sessions,” says Mallick. The boy missed the 2010 Commonwealth Games due to an injury.
An exposure trip to Jamaica, the home of Usain Bolt, opened Mallick’s eyes. “The exposure trip before the Rio Olympics was an eye-opener. They have an elite coaching plan. It’s different from the grassroots programme,” he said.
An elite coaching plan could have helped Haryana’s middle-distance runner Beant Singh in 2014-15, but it may be too late now.
Beant had a string of record-breaking performances in age-group competition. Though the 19-year-old is still a 2020 Tokyo Games hopeful, he was sidelined due to injuries for more than a year.
“It’s all because of lack of proper guidance when these athletes are growing up,” says Saini. FACILITIES LACKING
The latest young athlete to shine on the world junior circuit is Damneet Singh, winning the hammer throw silver in the in the Under-18 World Championship in July last year.
A product of the Batth Hammer Throw Academy in Barnala, Punjab, Damneet has trained with very basic equipment, of the kind used in low-cost gyms.
“We thought Damneet’s medal in the world meet would change the fate of the academy. But things haven’t changed; they’ve become worse,” says coach Sukhraj Singh. “Damneet should have been provided with the best facilities, but he continues to train with the same old equipment and takes care of his diet.”
Even though job security and facilities are paramount, absolutely no thought is given to issues of overage and doping.
“These two scourges can nip careers in the bud,” says medical expert Ashok Ahuja. Promising 17-year-old javelin thrower Rohit Yadav failed a dope test for performance-enhancing drugs at a national youth meet and was stripped of his Asian Youth Championship silver last year.
“The list of such recalcitrant athletes is endless,” says Ahuja, adding, “Many youngsters are focused on taking food supplements and banned substances. No one talks about how to improve technique, they are more eager to know about the latest food
supplement.”