Tejaswin Shankar best described it when he said getting in his car and driving to the ground was enough for a warm-up in the ragingly hot and humid conditions in Bhubaneswar.
For all the excitement surrounding the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships, much of the first half of the meet was dominated by talk about the weather. With Odisha reeling under a heatwave, athletes were running through multiple shirts and bottles of water to keep themselves hydrated. And temperatures as high as 50°C only compounded their woes.
The Championships, a dual World Championships and Asian Games qualifier, were meant to bring together the country’s best athletes—excluding Neeraj Chopra and Avinash Sable—and showcase India’s improving performances and talent pool in athletics.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI), earlier this year, through a circular, made it mandatory for all athletes to compete in the final selection trial for the Hangzhou Asian Games, starting in late September. In the end, over five days, close to 1000 athletes gave it their all, of whom 65 achieved the Asian Games qualification mark across 27 disciplines. World javelin champion Neeraj and steeple chase national record holder Avinash will gain automatic berths after they were granted exemption from participating here by the AFI.
It’s now up to the selection committee to come up with the two names per discipline, which will be submitted to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) next month. The selection committee will receive the full list from Indian athletics chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair, including their recent performances, which will enable them to narrow down who they think will be the best medal hopefuls.
The AFI chief, Adille Sumariwalla, brushed over criticism regarding the scheduling, stating the federation’s hands were tied by the OCA, which insisted on handing over the squad list for the Hangzhou Games by July 15.
“We had to change the dates [from July to June] because the Asian Games changed the dates. Normally the last date for entries is 15 days before [the competition], but it’s 45 days before (sic) for the Asian Championships and 75 days before [for the Asian Games], which has been unheard of. It’s ridiculous!
Record breaker: Tajinderpal Singh Toor shattered his own national and Asian shot put records with a throw of 21.77m. | Photo Credit: Aashin Prasad
“The Asian countries have their final trials now, whether it’s Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, or the UAE. If the athletes don’t get accustomed to these conditions, how will they perform in the Asian championships in Bangkok in July?” he shot back.
In these trying conditions, Tejaswin’s remarkable feat in what was his first decathlon in India stands tall. He was bleeding from his nose due to the heat before the start of the first event, the 100m race, and fell behind on the first day, which comprised his favourite disciplines. But he bounced back with personal best records in the high jump, discus throw, pole vault, and javelin to earn a gold medal and achieve the Asiad qualification mark.
Tejaswin’s fight and spirit, along with those of his fellow decathletes, brought a fresh spotlight to the event, which was largely a sideshow in Indian athletics.
The men’s long jump finals had all the makings of an exciting clash between two of the world’s best, national record holder Jeswin Aldrin and Murali Sreeshankar, but failed to deliver on the final day. Sreeshankar, who achieved a personal best of 8.41m —1 cm short of Aldrin’s record—in the qualifiers, took home gold for a fourth successive year with a best mark of 8.29m in the final. Jeswin, who had four foul jumps, made the Asian Games cutoff with a jump of 7.98m.
But the women’s long jump battle between Ancy Sojan and Shaili Singh lived up to the billing, with the race for gold going down to the wire. After a slow start, Ancy jumped 6.51m in her fifth attempt to take first place away from Shaili after she had led for much of the contest. Both Ancy and Shaili breached the qualification mark.
There were no surprises in the men’s triple jump, with the trio of Praveen Chithravel, Abdulla Aboobacker, and Eldhose Paul taking the 1-2-3 on the podium and going past the Asiad mark with their jumps.
Jyothi Yarraji continued her excellent run in 2023 with her sixth sub-13 race in 100m hurdles and booked her ticket to Hangzhou.
While she was disappointed about not breaking her national record, she promised there was more to come from her.
Jyothi also won the 100m gold. Vithya Ramraj retained her gold in the 400m hurdles with a personal best timing of 56.01s after she had made the cut-off in the 400m race with another personal best (52.49s).
KM Deeksha surprised 2021 and 2022 champions Harmilan Bains and Chanda to take gold in the women’s 1500m. Harmilan, who is participating in her first national event after a year-long layoff, led for much of the race before Deeksha overtook her in the final 100m and closed out the win. The trio also made the podium and the cut-off in the 800m, with Chanda clinching gold.
Rohit Yadav made his case to take the remaining spot in the men’s javelin quota alongside Neeraj by winning gold with his second-best throw (83.28m) of the season.
Braving heatwave: Tejaswin Shankar achieved personal bests in three decathlon events—high jump (2.20m), pole vault (4.00m) and javelin (52.32m) in draining conditions to bag the gold medal at the 62nd National Inter-State Athletics Championship in Bhubaneswar and qualify for the Asian Games. | Photo Credit: Aashin Prasad
This was his third recorded throw of 80m+ this year and ninth in the last 18 months. Shivpal Singh, who made a return after a suspended sentence for doping this year, clinched the bronze with a throw of 81.96m.
Anjali Devi surprised many by claiming gold in the 400m with a personal best timing of 51.48s in what was her first 400m race in over four years.
ALSO READ: Inter-State C’ships: Tajinderpal Singh Toor overcomes personal loss to shatter Asian shot put record
It was not too long ago that Swapna Barman was contemplating retirement after a spate of injuries, but the heptathlete will have a chance to defend her Asiad gold.
The best was saved for the last, as Tajinderpal Singh Toor shattered his own national and Asian shot put records with a throw of 21.77m. Tajinder’s was the only national record broken at the meet.
He has endured a tough two years with injuries and personal tragedies, including the loss of his first unborn child a few months ago and the passing of his grandmother last week. Despite the setbacks, the 28-year-old looks primed to defend his Asian Games gold. He has also qualified for the World Athletics Championships, which will be held in Budapest from August 19.
Now that the dust has settled on the field, it’s time for the selection committee to put their thinking caps on.
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