Discus thrower Navjeet Dhillon has already achieved the qualification mark but is participating in the Federation Cup after AFI made the event mandatory for Commonwealth Games selection. (Source: Express Photo by Harmeet Sodhi)
“It’s stricter than the Olympics qualification mark,” complained a coach, referring to the Athletics Federation of India’s stringent qualification guidelines set for the Commonwealth Games. Athletes training at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala on Sunday, just a day before the Federation Cup, seemed a tad worried about meeting the federation’s norms.
As per the guidelines, athletes in more than over a dozen events will have to rewrite the current national records to make the cut. But the federation insists that they had to set such tough norms to ensure the best athletes make it for the Gold Coast event.
“In most events, the competitions at the CWG is tougher than the Asian Games. Countries like Jamaica, Australia, Britain, New Zealand and Kenya will be participating. For example, Kenyan athletes dominate the longer races. This is the reason why AFI’s qualifying guidelines are tough,” explains CK Valson.
Chief national coach Bahadur Singh reiterated that the federation is not interested in sending athletes to fill up the quota.
“We expect medal-winning performances at the CWG and so we need to find the best athletes. I think we have a lot of promising athletes this time and you will see their performances in the coming days,” said Singh.
“I am not sure how it will help. Practically speaking, only three or four athletes will meet the current guidelines. None from the track events will, I can assure you. This is the first ever that they have set such unreachable targets. These norms are good enough for medals at the CWG,” said a coach.
Dutee Chand, the 100m champion, believes the norms are a bit “unrealistic”. In her case, the Odisha runner will have to better her personal best (11.24s) to make the 11.15s mark. The Rio qualification mark was a bit more relaxed at 11.32s. But the level of competition at the CWG is so high that even the 11.15 would have just fetched the fourth place in Glasgow.
“It is tough to achieve the mark they have set. But I am going to give it my best anyway. I want to take part in Gold Coast,” Dutee said.
But the athletes can take solace from the fact that the deputy national coach said the norms are not water-tight. “We have mentioned that they are guidelines. That itself is self-explanatory. Even if the athletes are close to the qualifying mark in certain events, we will consider them”, Radhakrishnan said.
The federation is however very particular on selecting the relay team from the national campers. Runners training outside won’t be considered. The 400m national record holder Mohammed Anas and MR Poovamma, Asian Games medallist, will be the big names to miss out as they train with their personal coaches. Promising runners like Anilda Thomas and Anu Raghavan are other promising athletes who won’t be considered for the relay teams.
Apart from Vikas Gowda, 200m runner Srabani Nanda is another star athlete that will not take part in the Federation Cup. Nanda has chosen to stay back in Jamaica, where she is undergoing a training stint, and return for the Inter-State meet in July.
The bar raised high
The Athletics Federation of India has set challenging qualifying norms for next month’s CWG — at least a dozen are tougher than the national records in respective events. The athletes will have to meet at the Federation Cup, which starts today
Neeraj Chopra
Men’s javelin
NR: 86.48m, AFI norm: 81.80m,
CWG 2014 gold mark: 83.87m
The national record holder won gold at the 1st leg of the Indian GP with a throw of 82.88 metres. Unless he experiences a sudden dip in form he should be able to qualify.
Tejaswin Shankar
Men’s high jump
NR: 2:26m, AFI norm: 2.25m,
CWG 2014 gold mark: 2:31m
He has broken the indoor high jump record on two occasions over the past one month – the second one was 2.28 metres which is better than his outdoor record. On current form Shankar should be able to meet the norm.
G Lakshmanan
Men’s 5,000M
NR: 13:29.70, AFI norm: 13:25.00,
CWG 2014 gold mark: 13:12.07
He will have to better his personal best (13:35.69) by 10 minutes and also break a 25-year-old national record if he is to be picked. He faces a similar task in the 10,000 metres where he will have to break the national record (28:02.89). His personal best in the 10K is 29:13.00.
Srabani Nanda
Women’s 200M
NR: 22.82s, AFI norm: 22.60s,
CWG 2014 gold mark: 22.25s
The national mark in the name of Saraswati Saha was set in 2002. Nanda’s personal best stands at 23.07, means she will have to clock her first sub-22 timing to make the cut.
Tanjinder Singh Toor
Men’s shot put
NR: 20.69m, AFI norm: 20.20m,
CWG 2014 gold mark: 21.61m
His effort of 20.40m at the last Fed Cup put him in the big league. Last week at the 1st leg of the Indian GP he threw 19.95m but it waits to be seen if he can reach the lofty heights of last year.
Muhammed Anas
Men’s 400M
NR: 45.40s, AFI norm: 45.30s,
CWG 2014 gold mark: 44.24s
His performance at the Indian GP raised questions over his fitness and form. Meeting AFI’s norms, which means he will have to break national record, will be an outstanding performance. Arokia Rajiv is also a contender.
T Gopi
Men’s marathon
NR: 2:12.00, AFI Norm: 2:12.50,
CWG 2014 gold mark: 2:11.15
He will have to improve on his personal best (2:15.16) by about two and a half minutes. With athletes from Kenya and Uganda in the fray, this is one of the toughest events to medal in.
Dutee Chand
Women’s 100M
NR: 10.24S #, AFI norm: 10.16, 2014 gold: 10.85
The norms set by the AFI in the sprint events is a reflection of how far behind Indians are when it comes to competition at the CWG. In three of the sprint events, the men’s 100 being the exception, the norms are tougher than those set by hosts Australia. Chand, who holds the national record, will have to run the race of her life to lower the national record.
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