Setting the pace Down Under

It is a common phenomenon for sports teams or athletes to travel to foreign lands in order to benefit from the experience and expertise of an internationally acclaimed coach.

4 min readJun 12, 2013 02:15 AM IST First published on: Jun 12, 2013 at 02:15 AM IST

It is a common phenomenon for sports teams or athletes to travel to foreign lands in order to benefit from the experience and expertise of an internationally acclaimed coach. And so when five sprinters,Anita Das,P Siva,Nilesh Batre,Shabnam Shokeen and Siddhi Hiray were sent to Australia for a week to train under Sharon Hannan,the very same person who coaches the 100 meter hurdles Olympic and World Champion Sally Pearson,expectations for future success in athletics rapidly increased.

The idea of teaming up with Sharon Hannan came when KOOH Sports came up with a campaign called ‘Speedstar,’ a nationwide annual talent hunt conducted in order to find the country’s fastest 100 meter sprinters in the under-12,under-14 and under-16 divisions. It was designed to find raw speed in young athletes,who would then be supported with the technical training required for sprinting.

“She (Hannan) focused a lot on the technique,” said Anita Das,who qualified for the event from the Kolkata trial in the under-16 division. “We were introduced to new training methods,which included swimming and training sessions at the beach.”

Eleven-year old Nilesh Batre,a tribal boy from Shahapur,Thane district who,due to lack of proper footwear,had made himself adept to sprinting bare foot,added that the starting blocks were quite a useful provision,while the qualifier from the New Delhi trial,Shabnam Shokeen mentioned that the new exercises they learnt were very helpful.

Having returned after their week-long training down under,the athletes now face the task of maintaining their Olympic standard training. What makes this task difficult is the fact that four of the five athletes hail from rural settings and do not have access to the facilities they enjoyed when they were in Australia. Yet,they are determined to overcome this obstacle to make sure what they learnt doesn’t go waste. Shokeen stated that her coach was keen on learning the techniques Hannan passed onto her,and will use those same measures to train his charge. Similarly,Batre’s coach has begun training him with the measures passed on from Hannan. Batre also said that he will continue with the swimming exercises by using the river that flows two kilometres away from his home.

While the athletes were introduced to the various new techniques that benefitted their performances,the only problem the youngsters faced was the fact that there was a language barrier they had to deal with since their prestigious coach only spoke English. But that hurdle proved to be a mere detail the athletes did not spend much time sweating over.

“Most of the time,Sharon Ma’am showed us what she was saying rather than just talking,” said Shokeen. “She would say something,then do it herself,and then explain. It helped us get a clear idea of what she was talking about.” When Hannan’s careful explanations failed to clear the youngsters’ doubts,the Pune based Siddhi Hiray,who was the only one of the five that could speak English,was made to serve as translator along with the other organisers’ representatives present.

The athletes have also been influenced by the experience. “It’s not every day one gets to meet Olympic champions,” said Drishti Hiray,Siddhi’s mother,referring to the opportunity the athletes were given when they got to watch Sally Pearson training. “They inspired Siddhi and she came back with renewed motivation to perform well.” Das,who had previously participated in the Junior Nationals at Lucknow in 2012,stated that she one day hopes to represent India in the Olympics. Shokeen too shared a similar sentiment. Given the fact that the athletes have been inspired to continue with the sport and the fact that they are now armed with correct technique,it may be safe to say that the youngsters give India a bright future as far as the 100 and 200 meter sprints are concerned. If not,they will at least be good raw material for Indian coaches to work on.