Athletics : Reality Check

The World Outdoor Athletics Season is scheduled from April to September. With the Diamond League and World Challenge Meetings held mostly across Europe every week in June and July the crux of the season and peak performances of the Athletes comes around late August , and thats when the stage is set for the IAAF World Championships , the flagship event of the World Athletics Federation . With the Commonwealth and Asian Games held in the months of October – November , the Athletics events in these Games suffered a bit with quality and withdrawals from some of the top athletes citing injury , recovery and security !

Where does India Stand ?

Nonetheless , CWG and Asiad are the limelight competition for Indian Athletics . 12 Medals in Delhi got us to sixth position in the Tally and 11 Medals in Guangzhou pushed us up just behind China. So where does the second best country in Asia stand with respect to the World in Athletics. Let’s do some reality check .

Below are the 7 Track and Throw events in the Men’s and Women’s Categories in no particular order , where Indian Athletes feature in the top-30 in World Standings and thus stand a chance to compete with the World’s best .

Mens

( 1 ) Relay 4 x 100m

The Men’s Relay team comprising of Rahamatulla Molla , Suresh , Manzile and Sameer Nassema created a NR in CWG and are now placed at no.14 in the world with respect to timings recorded across the Athletics World in the year 2010. They can earn a semi-final berth in the Olympics or World Championships with a similar performance.

( 2 ) Shot Put

Duo of Saurabh Vij and Om Prakash are hovering close to the 20m mark this season which is a competitive mark but it might not be enough for any podium finish at the World Stage. The Unites States of America are favorites in this event with a pack of young athletes led by Resse Hoffa and Adam Nelson.

( 3 ) Triple Jump

Renjith Maheshwary‘s National Record breaking jump in Delhi earned him a medal. His next ideal target should be the Asian record of 17.59m , the one that would propel him in the Medals category come 2012 ! Europeans , Teddy Tamgho and Phillips Idowu, are pipped to break the 18m barrier next season !

Womens

( 4 ) Relay 4 x 400m

As usual , the ladies are better contenders than Indian men in Athletics. The Golden Girls Manjeeth , Sini Jose , Ashwini and Mandeep Kaur are India’s best bet in the Athletic World as things stand. Ranked 7th and given that they continue an upward trend in performances we can for sure expect them to run in the Finals at London . Russia and USA have had a long history in this event category and it would be great if our girls can share a spoil in this rivalry.

( 5 ) Discuss Throw

Krishna Poonia and Australia’s Danny Samuels have been much talked about with their upcoming $20k Challenge Duel. But neither feature in this season’s top 5 throws. Samuels has been a former Youth World Champion and a young prodigy who went on to win the Gold at the World Championships in 2009. With China’s Yanfeng Li , Germany’s Nadine Muller and Cuba’s Yerelis Barrios consistently reaching the 65m mark in 2010 along with the 20 year old sensation from Croatia , Sandra Perkovic , it is going to be a mammoth task for Krishna Poonia and Harwant Kaur to match these ladies at the Worlds next year.

( 6 ) Long Distance 10 , 000 mtrs

Kavita Raut and Preeja Shreedharan had claimed to run under 32 and thats exactly what they did in Guangzhou and thus lowered the National Mark . The European Championships held at Barcelona in July and the Ostrava Golden Meet saw Europeans and African runners register timings close to the 31minute barrier respectively. The field in both these events was much stronger than in Guangzhou and Delhi . The 10,000 mtrs is very much a strategical run and positioning and pacing oneself with respect to the pack is of prime importance , along with endurance. Better the Athlete grid and better will be the result ! So Preeja and Kavita can surely look forward to better performances once they run against much fancied Kenyans and Ethiopians in World Challenger Meets.

( 7 ) Mid Distance 800 mtrs

Tintu Luka broke Shiny Wilson’s National Mark and the 21 year old girl from Kannur has set massive expectations in Indian Athletics. But she has been criticized for her race strategy and temperament. Tintu runs an all out race from the start and is often the pacemaker up to the 600 m. Its the final sprint that makes or breaks her run. The Delhi crowd famously held hands over their heads as Tintu failed to sprint to victory and was overrun by others in the last 50m. But this approach is what she prefers and is probably the best for her style and given that she improves upon her endurance , she stands a very good chance in the Olympic year and the seasons ahead to break into the top 10.

With the Olympic Qualifications to look forward too , year 2011 is going to be classic year for Indian Athletics , wherein after a long time India would have a dozen athletes competing at the very top of the Athletics World . We have delivered in Asia , now its time to perform at the World Stage !