Quartet symphony at Commonwealth Games

The secret lies in Ukraine.

Whatever it was about that former Soviet country — in the food, training, coaching technique — it has worked. Teams like Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, England and Australia were left panting behind as the Indians steamed ahead.

One gold and two bronze in the relays, and a bronze each in javelin and triple jump.

Every Indian athlete recalled that it was a training stint
in Ukraine that had prepared them for these astonishing performances.

The special of the day was Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose, Ashwini Akkunji and Mandeep Kaur sprinting to the women’s 4x400 gold medal — amidst thunderous backing by the capacity crowd.

Such scenes in India are reserved for cricket matches or even the odd football match in Kolkata, but for Indian athletes to be at the centre of such adulation meant that something had changed.

Manjeet, taking off first, kept apace with the others and handed the baton to Sini Jose in second. At the next baton change, Sini handed to Ashwini 10m behind the frontrunner, Dammy Abogunloko (Nigeria), while Meghan Beesley (Eng) and Olivia Tauro (Aus) stayed close behind. To her credit, Ashwini not only held them off but closed the distance with Dammy and as she approached the last baton change, she was leading.

It was then that an Indian victory increasingly looked possible. The anchor, Mandeep Kaur charged ahead with Muizat Odumosu (Nigeria) challenging her for the lead. Down the homestretch the Indian continued to open up the lead, and crossed the line in 3:27.77. Nigeria was second and England third.

“We didn’t feel tired at all,” said Ashwini, a native of Udupi in Karnataka. “The crowd had us charged. Many people had said we wouldn’t get gold, but we always knew we had a chance. The one month training in Ukraine helped us. We got the right training and the right conditions.”

4x100 teams get bronze
Shortly before, the relay quartets of the 4x100 (women and men) had struck bronze. Satti Geetha  and Srabani Nanda, running the first two legs, had kept apace of the leaders, but it was Priya PK who surged ahead of Jamaica’s Audria Jodi and handed the baton just behind England’s Abiodun Oyepitan. With Jyothi HM having a huge lead over Janet Amponsah of Ghana, it looked like the Indians had clinched silver, but Janet put in a stunning effort to close the gap and edge past the Indian for silver.

“We can’t believe it,” said Jyothi. “I’ve been preparing for the 100m and 200. I did so badly in those events that I didn’t even take my father’s call. I was upset and I got sick. The doctor told me not to run today.”

The men’s quartet broke the national record for the second time in two days, coming in just behind England and Jamaica and ahead of Australia and Bahamas. Like their other compatriots, Rahamatulla Molla, Suresh Sathya, Shameer Mon and Md Qureshi ran with such verve that it left the Jamaicans and English impressed.

“I knew they’d do well when I saw their heats,” said the 100m sprint winner Lerone Clarke of Jamaica.

Maheswary, Naik excel
The other bronze medal winners were triple jumper Renjith Maheswary, who got third with a best of 17.07m, behind gold medallist Tosin Oke (Ngr) an Lucien Hugo (Cmr). Kashinath Naik won the bronze with a throw of 74.29, behind Jarrod Bannister (Aus, 81.71) and Stuart Farquhar (Nzl, 78.15) in javelin throw.