Animesh Kujur, the reigning national record holder in both 100 and 200 metres, said he has learned his lessons from the past. As he gears up to compete in his first-ever 60m race at the inaugural National Indoor Athletics Championships, Kujur talked about his mistakes that cost him a great year in terms of performances.
His season last year started when he clocked 10.2 seconds to register the 100m national record in an international event in Greece. He then bettered his own national mark in the 200m at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, in June.
However, the performances started to dip as the 21-year-old participated in a lot of competitions to directly qualify for the World Championships in Tokyo.
“I was practically spent by the time I went to the Tokyo Worlds. I wanted to qualify directly and in that quest, I ran too many races. Now I will not commit the same mistake, we have a better plan,” Kujur, who trains at the Reliance High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar, said on Monday.
Kujur looks fresh and ready for the first competition at his home stretch in Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Indoor Stadium, where he will line up against Gurindervir Singh and a few others to win the 60m dash. “This will be fun. Probably as a sprinter one has to go all out in six seconds whereas in 100m you have more time. I will give my all,” Kujur said.
His coach Martin Owens believes it would be a great challenge for Kujur, one that he should be up against more times. When asked whether he would be under pressure as this is his home ground, Martins agreed.
“There would be pressure as some of the guys are closer to him in 60m as opposed to 100m where he can pull away. But this would be a great competition for him,” Owens said.
Another big international star, Praveen Chithravel, said he loves the indoor competition more than the outdoor competitions. “Fans are closer to you and you feel alive. I am taking part in long jump and I hope to do well as this is the first national indoors in our country,” the national record holder in triple jump said.
The first medal in the inaugural National Indoor Athletics Championships would be decided in the 3000m men’s race, followed by the women’s final.
