Indians athletes getting slower

NEW DELHI: Indian athletics has slowed down considerably after surprising China at the 2002 Asian Games. But if these trends do not change quickly, it will spell big trouble for India at the forthcoming Asiad in December.

The latest world rankings of top Indian athletes jar in comparison to their achievement at the Asian level. To some extent, the poor rankings may be due to the growing distance between the world and Asian level on the track and field, but the main reason is the stagnation in Indians athletics in the last couple of years and the absence of any superlative performance by an individual to inspire the rest.

The judgement is out in the IAAF rankings which were released last week. Just five Indian athletes — three women and two men — have made it to the top-50 list in the various track and field disciplines.

While Anju George heads the list for the Indians at seventh position in long jump, the rest of her compatriots are lagging far behind. Discus thrower Krishna Poonia is 31st in her event whereas Indian athletics’ braveheart in the 2004 Olympics, Soma Biswas has been ranked 42nd in women’s heptathlon. In comparision, there are no top-20 finishers amongst the Indian men. The US-based discus thrower, Vikash Gowda, the national champion, is 24th while shot putter Navpreet Singh has just about made it to top 50.

All this proves that there is a mystery which needs to be solved before it is too late. The athletes no longer can complain of Government empathy in sponsoring tours and providing proper training facilities.

Navpreet Singh’s ranking has been assessed on the basis of his performance between September 2005 and May 2006 in six international meets — Asian Championship in Incheon (Korea), three different Asian Grand Prix meets held in Bangkok, Bangalore and Pune respectively, an Asian Indoor Games in Bangkok and the Indian Open in Hyderabad in 2005.

The IAAF ranking system is based on the two main elements of all track & field performances, the measured results of athletes and their placings during competition. Athletes’ performances can be considered in all competitions from grassroots to elite international level. However, the IAAF or one of its member federations must have officially ratified the results. Still, the Indian athletes have failed to motivate themselves to produce world-class performances.