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James Hillier, Director of Athletics at the Reliance Foundation, believes Indian athletes who won laurels at the Indian Grand Prix 3 are gunning to be in good shape to compete and ace the upcoming competitions.
These athletes are set to compete in the Asian Athletics Championships in July, the World Championships in August and the Asian Games in September.
Hillier, a noted athletics coach, was on the sidelines of the Indian Grand Prix 3 in Bengaluru and said he was happy with the way the athletes have been performing. The athletes, who trained under his watchful eyes, recorded six successful podium finishes at the Indian Grand Prix 3.
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They competed in a mix of sprint and hurdle events.
Hillier said he was happy to see his wards have a good start to the season.
"It’s been a good start to the season, where we got to assess where the athletes are physically and mentally," he said.
"We have a huge season ahead, so using a competition like this is important as a stepping stone to international events like the Asian Athletics Championships in July, the World Championships in August and the Asian Games in September."
National record holders Jyoti Yarraji and Amlan Borgohain, who train under Hillier at the Reliance Foundation, came first in their respective races.
Jyoti came first in the 100m hurdles with a strong headwind clocking 13.44s. Meanwhile, Amlan came first in both the 100m and 200m events, running 10.50s and 21.20s respectively, with the latter into a strong headwind.
In 200m event, Animesh Kujur finished 0.33 seconds behind Amlan.
Hillier said it was nice to see his wards compete for the top two positions at the event.
"Amlan won the 100 and 200. Animesh from the HPC came second in the 200m as well, behind Amlan. It was nice to get a 1-2 in the 200m," the coach added.
Jyoti Yarraji's teammate and training partner Sapna Kumari came second in the 100m hurdles, clocking 13.85 seconds. Both Jyoti and Sapna dealt with a headwind of -2.5m/s.
Further, Tejas Shirse and Ragul Kumar scripted their personal bests in the 110m hurdles and 400m events respectively at the Indian Grand Prix 3 and the coach was delighted to see them shine.
"Tejas got a personal best in the hurdles, which I was delighted with because he raced against a strong headwind. Ragul Kumar got a personal best in the 400m race. Being a 200m athlete, we wanted to try him out in the 400m race just to see how he fares in a longer race," Hillier added.
Indian Grand Prix, a training ground for bigger events
James Hillier said he used the Indian Grand Prix 3 as a way of understanding the impact of training. Mohammad Afsal, who is currently working hard on developing speed in training, was decided to compete in the 400m event rather than his favored 800m. He did well to finish second in the C race.
Also read: Krishan Kumar among top athletes to breach Asian Games qualification mark at Indian Grand Prix
Hillier said it was nice to try out new combinations during events, just to see how the athletes respond in other events too.
"It’s a nice opportunity to see what competition is there, try out new permutations and combinations, just to see how our efforts in training are panning out," Hillier concluded.
The athletes would like to do an encore when they compete in the Indian Grand Prix 4 on April 15 at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.
