A walk to London

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Let us be realistic about India’s Olympic aspirations in athletics. Historically, only the legends Milkha Singh and P.T. Usha believed that winning a medal at the Olympics in athletics was possible.

Since then not many Indians have considered it even possible to go beyond qualifying to the finals.

It is certainly no mean task to make it to the finals in the world’s biggest sporting event, but as the clock ticks down to the London Games to be held in July-August, let us meet one person, who has thought beyond what has been deemed possible by an Indian in recent years – going for an Olympic medal in athletics.

Irfan K. T. qualified to the Olympics when he clocked 1:22.09, his personal best, to finish 19th in the 20 km World Race Walking Cup held in Saransk, Russia this Saturday.

When you interact with this 22-year-old boy from Malappuram and understand the effort he has put in over the last year, you will agree that he has the right to dream.

Excerpts from an interview

In the Olympics, at least in the last three games, athletes who were timed below 1:20.00 won bronze. Do you believe you can cover that two minute gap?

Yes, I believe I can. The Russia race was my first international event. The world’s best race walkers were there. I never knew how to approach an international race, so there were a few technical errors on my part otherwise I could have done better.

How did you prepare?

I trained in Ooty (at the Madras Regiment Centre) for a year. Training in the hilly terrain helped build up my endurance. We expect to arrive in London one month ahead of the games, so this will help us get acclimatised.

You have the second best timing in India this year. Aren’t the Olympics bigger than fighting for the best time in India?

In the last one year I have bettered my timing by more than 6 minutes. I can do below 1:20, I am sure about it. My coach has told me to aim for 1:18 and said I could make it. During my training in Patiala I have done 15 km in 1 hour.

What did you learn from the event in Russia?

The strategy was to race each km within 0:4.05 minutes. It went right, but after a few kms I felt like racing with the leaders, which was immature and had I stuck to the strategy I could have done better. Now I have learnt and I will not repeat the mistake.

So, are you really going for an Olympic medal?

Yes I am. I believe I can.