‘India can produce champs’

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Maria Mutola

Mozambique’s top 800m runner Maria Mutola has reckoned that India can produce world champions in athletics provided the youngsters have self-belief and they train under the best possible coaches.

“World champions arise from the most unlikely of places and there is no reason why India cannot produce one. The young athletes need to believe in themselves, but most importantly they need to go under the right coaching programme. That is of vital importance,” said Maria, who is in India as the ambassador of the World 10k in Bengaluru scheduled to be held on Sunday.
Maria has won the gold in 800m in the 2000 Olympics and is a three-time World Champion in the same event. She has also to her credit seven 800m titles in the Indoor World Championships.
Citing her own example, Maria said she started out as a swimmer but had to give up the sport as her parents could not afford to pay the coaching fees.
She then began playing football, where she was noticed by a famous literary figure, who spoke to her about athletics and then sought permission from her parents to begin her training.
“It was extremely difficult for me to train in Mozambique as there were no synthetic tracks, but the opportunity to travel to the Seoul Olympics was an eye opener. I realised I would have to work much harder if I hoped to make it to the top. It was after Seoul that I got a scholarship to the US, which changed my life,” says Maria.
“My years of hard work began paying off as I won the World Championships, yet the Olympic gold eluded me and it required a lot of mental strength and support for me to keep on working hard. The Olympic victory in 2000 was definitely the greatest moment of my life,” she says.
Mutola is now retired and is currently coaching South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya. “It feels great to be a coach, while it is a bit easier than being on the track, the satisfaction derived from seeing your disciples getting better and faster is very fulfilling.”