00:00So, James, we've seen some national records broken by Reliance athletes, especially Gurvinder and Animesh,
00:07so what are your thoughts on them and how excited are you for the Asian Athletics?
00:13Yeah, it's been a really good start to the year, you know, it's been a lot of hard work and it's nice to see some results.
00:20You know, it's been many years coming, you know, it's not something that's happened overnight, you know,
00:26a bit of a revolution happening in sprints and I think we're sort of hitting a sweet spot, if you like,
00:31in terms of the quality of athletes we've got, not just in Reliance but in the country at the moment,
00:36certainly on the male side in the sprints and nice to have a couple of national records with Gurvinder and Animesh
00:43and the relay was really satisfying because that was all four guys that trained together
00:48and getting that record as a team was really lovely and I think that's really symbolic
00:53because, you know, that's something that shows it's not just one person doing it, it's four people doing it
00:59and now we've got the opportunity to represent the nation, the Asian Championships in the relay
01:04and the first time in many years, so we're delighted, looking forward to hopefully coming back with a medal, fingers crossed.
01:10Your thoughts on Animesh and the kind of form he's been in this season and the prospects he brings to Indian Athletics in the coming years?
01:19Yeah, he's been really good this year, he's been very, very consistent, you know, he's been able to produce good times in all competitions,
01:26whether it's a big competition or a practice competition and I think that consistency is, you know, what gives you the confidence
01:33and perhaps even the belief that, you know, you can step it up another level, you know, when it matters.
01:38He's not scared of anybody, he just goes and competes, he runs his own race, he keeps things simple
01:43and, you know, I'm really confident that he can, you know, be in the medal zone at the Asian Championships in the individual
01:50and obviously that, if he does that, that'll give him massive confidence to, you know, for the relay as well.
01:55He's obviously a pivotal part of that relay team as well, yeah.
01:58I just asked him and he generally likes 200 more than anything else.
02:02Yeah, yeah.
02:03So, how are you pushing him to just also do that well in the 100 meters and the relays as well?
02:10Yeah, I mean, the 200 is naturally, that's his naturally best event, of course, but he understands if he gets better at the 100
02:17and he gets better, particularly in the first 30 meters of the 100, you know, because that's an area that, you know, he needs to improve,
02:24then that will directly impact his 200 and also the relay work will help his 200 as well because you're still running fast and this and that.
02:32So, I think, yeah, the 200 is, that's his first love, if you like, but, you know, he understands that the other events are important
02:39and, you know, ultimately will help him in the 200 meters as well.
02:42He often talks about the problem that he has generally with the starts and that eats up a lot of precious time one needs.
02:51How have you worked with him? I mean, is it just the mental part of it or is it also the built of him which poses a hindrance?
03:00Yeah, so, I mean, his personal coach, Martin Owens, has worked very hard on it and then we sort of have a, we chat all the time about it
03:07and then I sort of did a few bits with him the other day and he found that was quite helpful.
03:11So, it's good having two pairs of eyes on things. The way I like to view these things is, things aren't a problem,
03:17they're an opportunity to be better and I think we have to frame it as, and he's got to believe and tell himself,
03:23I'm a really good starter, I'm a world-class starter and that's where it starts and once he starts believing that,
03:29then it's, you know, you're just putting the, you know, the technical things in place and, but if you're not confident,
03:36it's very hard to start well. So, he's got to stop telling himself he's weak but more telling himself,
03:40I'm good at this but I can get a lot better and so I'm working on his mind quite a bit and having some good conversations with him.
03:47And he's very open, he's very open to listening and learning and improving so that's a good quality for an athlete to have.
03:54Indians never thought about substance in the past but now it looks like a reality.
03:59What are your thoughts on it and how close do you think Indian athletes are reaching that mark?
04:04Yeah, I mean, I get asked this question a lot but I mean for me it's not so much about 10, it's about getting better,
04:10you know, it's about developing the mindset of all the athletes and they've got to push each other, it's the only way really.
04:16You know, it would be very difficult, I believe, for one athlete to go sub 10 and all the others to stay where they are.
04:22You know, I think they've all got to start running 10-1s first, you know, that's the first stage and if we can get a few guys into 10-1 this year,
04:28that would be great and then you could sort of next year as you go into Asian Games which is a huge year for us and hopefully we can get into the 10-0s and then,
04:35who knows, perfect day, perfect weather, perfect conditions, perfect shape, then maybe someone will run under 10.
04:41But we look at more, you know, what it takes to run under 10, how do we run under 10 rather than the numbers itself.
04:47You know, so we look at what the athlete needs to do in the gym, you know, what their technical profile needs to look like,
04:53you know, what their top speed needs to look like in training and we sort of put the process, it's like a big jigsaw puzzle really.
05:00You know, you're putting all those pieces together and then if the athlete's good enough and mentally strong enough and the conditions have to be good,
05:06we need fast tracks, you know, we need some mondo tracks in the country as well.
05:11Coach, I remember when starting, you clubbed all the four sprinters, when you took Guri also and you already had three,
05:17so you had said that the idea is that if they train together like a pack that improves their chances overall also.
05:23We saw that we broke national record, Guri broke the national record.
05:26So how do you think that, you know, that four of them working together is what, like, happening?
05:32Like how is that very helpful in this case, like in their timings getting improved, Manikanta improved, Guri improved, overall they improved.
05:38So how do you think that was?
05:40Well, I think the thing is they're all very different athletes and I think that's great because they all have different strengths and different weaknesses.
05:46If you want to be world class, you can't have a weakness that hampers your ability to be world class.
05:52And so your weakness has to be good enough that it's not a weakness that hinders your performance.
05:58So what the athletes need to do is the areas they are weak, they have to sort of raise those as they do with their strengths.
06:05We need to raise those also. But the weakness is always your limiting factor.
06:09So whether the weakness is your natural speed or your strength or your technique or whatever else it is, that's what needs to get raised.
06:15So I tell them you've got to use your training partners, you know, and their strengths to make your weaknesses better.
06:21So that's the kind of party line if you like.
06:23Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
06:27I'm India and never miss an update.
06:29.
Comments