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Journalism of Courage
As she prepared to take her first attempt in the long jump event of the Federation Cup underway in Patiala,MA Prajusha looked worriedly at the overcast sky. The slight drizzle and the wind blowing across the field was threatening to spoil the 2010 CWG silver medalists first competition of the season. Running against the wind,Prajusha started with a foul.
Her second attempt was 6.13m,which won her the gold but was nowhere the 6.47 mark at the CWG or the 6.45m mark that she achieved at the National Open Athletics Championship in September last year. Her only other legal jump would be 6.03m meaning that she also had fallen short of the B qualification mark (6.65m) for the London Olympics.
Alongside the conditions,Prajusha also blamed her rustiness on a knee injury she had suffered in November last year. I lacked match practice. I think I will be at my best in the next two-three events. Now,I am looking forward to performing well in the Asian Grand Prix in Thailand to look for that Olympic spot, said Prajusha.
For that,however,Prajusha will have to do much better than her personal best mark of 6.55m,which is a full 10cm short of the B qualifying mark. If she manages that,Prajusha will become only the third Indian woman athlete in a track event to make it to London. The other two are Mayookha Johny,who booked her Olympic berth in the triple jump with a national-record breaking effort of 14.11 at last years Asian championships,and Tintu Luka in the 800m.
Prajusha,though,is staying positive. No matter what,I have to break the 6.65m barrier to earn the spot. I am not thinking about anything else right now. I will go to Bangalore after this and begin my training so that I could get back in shape, said Prajusha.
Thomas impresses
Jithin Thomas,the high jumper from Kerala,was the surprise element of the day as he leaped 2.20m to win gold. However,despite a personal best performance,he fell short of the five-year old meet record held by Bengals Harshankar Roy by 0.01m. MR Poovamma,meanwhile,won gold in the womens 400m with a timing of 53.70s but it was well below the Olympic B standard of 52.30s. The mens race in 400 metre was won by PP Kunhu Mohammed after clocking 46.67s. Haryanas Vijay Kumar claimed gold in the ten-event decathlon with 7152 points.
