Govindan Lakshmanan has said that running the 5000m heat alongside Mo Farah was an “experience of a lifetime. (Source: Reuters)
Indian athlete Govindan Lakshmanan has revealed that the chance of running the 5000m heat alongside champion Mo Farah was an experience of a lifetime and it is something that he will never forget.
Lakshmanan, who clocked a personal best timing of 13 minute 35.69 seconds, spoke to PTI in an interview and said, “It was a dream come true to be running with Mo Farah. He is an inspiration for me. I feel very good. It is a lifetime experience to run with him. This is his last competition and he will not run again.” and said, “I was concentrating on my race, so I don’t know how he was running but I feel good to have run with him.”
Lakshmanan’s coach Surendra Singh also expressed happiness and said, “I told him this is a very good opportunity to break the national record here in London. Low temperature is actually good for long distance runners. There was Mo Farah, the Kenyans, Ethiopians and other runners, all world class. You can improve your timing only in this kind of situations when competition is strong. He missed out (here) but he will do it. I think he can break the national record next year in Australia (In CWG). The conditions will also be very good there in Australia,” Surendra added.
Speaking about the weather condition Lakshmanan said, “The conditions were very good. The low temperature and my competitors including Mo Farah. You don’t get these kinds of top class competitors to run with. The rain was the only issue, the track was wet. But I came into the race with the target of breaking the national record” and added, “I did a lot of practice here in the past 10 days to break the national record. I tried but missed it by five seconds and I am disappointed. I will do next time. The last lap was a bit tight. I could not qualify for the final round but I would have been happy if I had broken the national record.”
Stating that he wants to do well in the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Australia, Lakshmanan. said, “I want to do well in the Commonwealth Games in Australia, the competition will be good there. I want to run 13:28 there. My coach (Surendra Singh) said I can run 13 min 22 seconds. I want to improve my timing. This is my first World Championships, I will do better next time.”
