National Athletics 2011: Review and Analysis Part 2

Continuing with Analysis and Review of the 51st Senior National Athletics held in Kolkata from the 10-13 th of September we look at the performances by our women athletes. As presented in this post – Athletics Reality Check , out of the top 7 medal prospects for India, four are from the women’s events.

India’s NR when compared and imposed upon the World Championships that were in Daegu , Korea in August imply that India would have manged 1 Gold and could have come close to a couple of podium finishes and for that matter could have qualified for the Finals on a few occasions.

( Above chart depicts India’s NRs followed by the National Championships held in 2010 , then the marks set by Indian Athletes in Kolkata and lastly the International timings and distances set during the Worlds at Daegu , Korea)

Kolkata ’11 Highlights

Local girl Asha Roy became the fastest runner in India as she won the 100m and 200m sprints. In the absence of Tintu Luka , Manjeet Kaur , Mandeep Kaur , Juana Murmu , Ashwini , Chitra Soman , Sini Jose and Sinimole Paulose the mid distance timings recorded were poor , even with Indian standards ! Kavita Raut in 5k and Preeja Shreedharan in 10km long distance run did the usual of winning gold respectively. Steeplechaser Sudha Singh could not get a chance to compete due to lack of entries. It would have been interesting to see if she could break the 10s barrier. The distances recorded in the THROW events are pathetic to say the least. The JUMP events are worth mentioning though. Our athletes have shown improvement in all four events compared with the last edition of the Nationals in Patiala. Mayookha Johny led the triple and long jumps whereas Sahana Kumari achieved her personal best and created a New Meet’s Record.

” India aiming for two to three athletics medals in London Olympics …”

That’s the statement made by AFI Director M.L.Dogra. There are a few athletes that have been cited to earn the coveted metal in 2012. But as the stats show , we have had very little improvement in performances from Patiala to Kolkata. A comparison with International athletes and their marks set in Daegu , Korea , or throughout the year in various IAAF meets reiterates the gap that exists between reality and a dream ! Having said all that , probably Mr. M.L Dogra was in other words just murmuring – ” ….Innhi se toh ummedein hain …. jithna hai faasla , utna hai Hausla … “

Link to National Athletics 2011: Review and Analysis Part 1