Opinion India show big-stage fright,again
While Khushbirs timing of 1:34:28 was a three minute improvement on her own mark set earlier this year,she finished 39th.
The 15-member Indian squad will return from the World Athletics Championships in Moscow without a single noteworthy performance,expect for 20-year-old Khushbir Kaur breaking the national record in the womens 20-kilometre walk. While Khushbirs timing of 1:34:28 was a three minute improvement on her own mark set earlier this year,she finished 39th.
The barren run from the Indians was expected (Anju Bobby Georges bronze in Paris 10 years ago being the only medal at the senior Worlds) but the below-par showing,with most of them unable to get close to their best performances of the year,raises questions over the preparedness of the countrys top athletes,coaches and the federation for an event of this stature.
Triple-jumper Renjith Maheshswarys best jump this year was 16.98m at Chennai in June. It helped him make the cut for Moscow,where the 27-year-old managed only 16.63m,which was below even the B qualifying standard of 16.85.
Sudha Singh,another national record holder,failed to make the final of the womens 3,000m steeplechase. Two months ago Sudha set a new national mark of 9:45:60,but on the big occasion she was nearly six seconds slower.
By far the biggest let-down was the womens 4×400 metre relay squad,which had won gold at the Asian Athletics Championships held at Pune in July. The victory at the continental event had raised hopes of a further improvement in timings by this relatively young squad but,instead,the quartet of Nirmala,Tintu Luka,Anu Mariam Jose and MR Poovamma were nearly six-and-a-half seconds off the pace they set in Pune. KT Irfan finished tenth at the London Olympics in the mens 20 kilometre race walk but was disqualified when looking good for a top-six finish.
Former hurdler and decathlete Gurbachan Singh Randhawa,the national selector,termed a majority of the squad as tourists. Most of our athletes are happy just to qualify. Of all the performances,the womens 4×400 relay team was the biggest disappointment, Randhawa said. Our athletes peaked too early in the season.
These words will ring true for Vikas Gowda who finished seventh in the final of the mens discus throw. Gowda will rue that his season best of 65.82m,set in April,would have given him a bronze at Moscow.
(Nihal is a senior assistant editor based in New Delhi.)
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