The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Shankar aims high

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 07, 2004

Sport

Sport - Athletics

Shankar aims high

By V.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD, OCT. 6. P. Shankar, the silver medallist in the 400m hurdles in the Asian All Stars athletic meet in Singapore last week, ended the season on a high note. The 21-year-old ONGC employee is determined not to rest on the achievements but aim high and look beyond the domestic circuit. `My ultimate objective is to represent India in the Olympics," he said.

Coached by the SAI coach Nagapuri Ramesh since he was 14, Shankar has been consistent with medal-winning performances at almost every big meet. His silver in the 400m flat and gold in the 400m hurdles in the Mumbai Open National athletic meet recently caught the attention of one and all. "I just want to concentrate as much as possible to think and aim big for the coming season which should in all probability start with the SAF Games in Colombo next March, " he said in a chat with The Hindu at Begumpet Police Stadium on Wednesday.

According to experts, it is a rare combination in Indian athletics when someone not only competes with the best in the business in both 400m and 400m hurdles but keeps winning medals. "I don't see any difficulty in this. I enjoy trying to give off my best," he said.

And just to ensure that Shankar maintains peak physical fitness, his coach Ramesh has already given him a schedule which should be good enough for the young athlete to compete at the earliest. What cannot be ignored here is the fact that Shankar was spotted from the relatively obscure Yerrabidusu Tanda near Shadnagar (Mahabubnagar) district. "We are aware of the huge task ahead. Exactly for this reason, the focus will be on controlling the body weight, improving stride length, strike right rhythm and snapping at the hurdles," said Ramesh.

Commenting on his experiences in Singapore where he recorded a timing of 50.74 in the 400m hurdles, which is 31 seconds below the national record, Shankar said he was confident of a medal for the simple reason that not the best of Asia were there. "But, the exposure for me was more important and I am happy with the end-result," he said.

Apparently, Shankar is drawing from his experience in the 110m hurdles, long jump in which he competed in the sub-juniors category, to be a better athlete. It is a different issue that Shankar prefers to train on the sand track at Gymkhana Grounds and not the GMC Balayogi Stadium synthetic track which his coash insists is good only for any pre-meet training. What is certain is that Shankaris now looking ahead.

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