‘At her age, she’s more talented than Usha’

“She’s doing very well and is one of the best runners in the world in her age category,” is how Babu describes the girl who came up with a seventh-position finish in the finals of the World Youth Championships held at Ostrava, Czech Republic last year. When asked how his ward compared with likes of track greats like PT Usha and Shiny Wilson, Babu was quick to point out that Poovamma has what it takes to be the best. “At her age, she is better than Shiny and Usha were,” he says.

In fact, Poovamma has something in common with Shiny, the former 800m champion, as she too got disqualified for cutting her lane at the Asian junior athletics meet at Macau (China) in 2006, where she actually finished third. Shiny, who was leading the pack, had lost out after missing her lane in the 1986 Asian Games at Seoul.

Babu feels that the 400m is one event which does not require too much speed or stamina and is ideally suited for Indian athletes. Agreeing, Poovamma says, “Actually, I used to run the 100 and 200m at school but after I won a 400m race at a meet, my coach advised me to stick with it.”

Poovamma, who is being coached by Dinesh Kunter, says she trains in two sessions of three hours every day. She was part of the Indian athletics squad to Beijing, and though she did not participate, watching the world’s top athletes perform was a great learning experience for the young runner. “I’m in good form and I hope to get a medal here,” states Poovamma.