Irfan walks to national record

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As Irfan K.T. walked his Olympic event in London on Saturday evening, there was hardly any space to walk inside his house at Areekode where friends and relatives thronged to watch him on television.

A day after he clocked 1:20.21, setting a national record and finishing an impressive 10th in 20-km walk in London, Irfan said he had never felt so homesick ever and could hardly wait to get back home. “I want to reach home at the earliest and thank everyone for their prayers,” said a delighted Irfan over the phone from London after becoming only the fifth Indian ever to create a national record in Olympics.

For a boy who took to athletics just four years ago, competing in the Olympics was the height of his ambition. The 22-year-old confessed Sunday he was never going to give up until at least a personal best was set.

“I knew dreaming for a medal would be seen as overambitious, but I aimed the national record all the way. There can never be a better occasion for me to achieve it and I am glad it happened,” said Irfan.
“My strategy was to stay with the top group throughout the race and never fall behind,” said Irfan who is employed in the Indian Army with the Madras Regiment Centre in Ooty.

He has been training at the high-altitude centre for the last six months. Bose A, athletics coach with the Sports Authority of India who first trained Irfan in the event, said he believed Irfan was capable of breaking the national record.

The time he set in London was good enough to win a bronze had it been in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but the quality of the race in London was much higher and certainly brought out his best,” said Bose.
Meanwhile, the legislator from his home constituency of Ernadu, P.K. Basheer, said he would meet chief minister Oommen Chandy on Tuesday to request for a befitting reward for Irfan.

“His achievement is the best by a Malayalee in recent Olympics. Rewarding Irfan will be an encouragement for the entire athletic fraternity in the state,” said Basheer. Irfan will fly back on August 13.