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Journalism of Courage
As darkness descended on the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in the national capital, the lights reflected off the two shades of the newly-laid Mondo athletics track. Laid for the upcoming World Para Athletics Championships, the track replaced the old synthetic surface in the stadium.
While the dark and light shade of blue looks aesthetic and pleasing to the eyes, the colour scheme has a larger significance when it comes to the partially blind athletes.
“Yes, it looks good and all but since we are making our stadium more accessible for the Para Athletes, the colour scheme helps the partially blind athletes while they are running,” Chief Para Athletics coach Satya Pal Singh told The Indian Express.
Paralympic medallist and sprinter Simran Sharma asserted the same. “When I run, sometimes my line of view can be blinded but the alternate lanes with different shades give a better spatial awareness. I have done couple of training sessions here and it feels comfortable,” said Simran.
The newly-laid track is famous worldwide for speed and enhancing athletic performance. It was laid under the plan to upgrade the JLN Stadium for the Para Worlds, making it the first-ever outdoor Mondo track in the nation. Along with the track inside the main stadium, there is a training Mondo track laid outside in the warm-up area.
“The whole project of laying down both Mondo tracks has cost us close to 25 crores and it was done in a space of four months,” sources from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) confirmed. India already has one indoor Mondo track laid down in the Kalinga Athletics indoor stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
“The track is overall faster than the synthetic track and it will help our athletes in the longer run. Mondo tracks are a standard at the World level and the Olympics level. With the track now accessible for the Indian athletes, their overall performance will improve and they won’t have to adjust much when they travel for competitions outside,” Satya Pal explained.
The main advantage of the Mondo track lies in the construction of the track. It is made with soft rubber top layer that absorbs shock and reduces fatigue for the athletes while the firm base layer provides the energy return that helps push the foot off the ground quicker, allowing runners to complete their strides faster with the same effort.
“It’s simple to understand. Just imagine, you are standing on a top layer which is springy and different from the other synthetic tracks. The shock absorption of Mondo makes it less jarring than other tracks that have asphalt or concrete,” chief coach of Delhi Athletics explained in simpler terms.
However, the athletes will have to adjust to the track in order to avoid injuries. “See the track has speed and the athletes need to train accordingly. It enhances the performance by 10-12%, so the athletes need to provide the input accordingly, so they don’t go overboard,” cautioned Dinesh.
The athletes are excited seeing the Mondo track, particularly the younger ones who are yet to perform on the track. “It is not open for us as of now but after the Para World Championships, I am looking forward to practice and competing on this track. Have always seen it on TV but we have it with us now,” Harish, a junior Delhi sprinter, quipped excitedly.
Near the throwing pit arena, Paralympian Javelin Thrower Rinku Hooda is taking some runups. After throwing twice, he gets down and checks the track twice. ” Yeah, I came here to see how Mondo is and I have had two training sessions on it. This is better than the previous one in terms of speed,” Rinku said.
“I have competed on these tracks in Paralympics and I think having one nearby us will mean that we will be competition-ready. As a Javelin thrower, I just need to adjust my speed and rest will be fine,” he added further.
World Para Athletics Championships will kick-off on September 27, with more than 1300 para athlete coming from 104 countries.
