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Media Bulletin No. 4: Middle and Long Distance Preview of the Metlife National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championship 2005 |
| June 29, 2005: Middle and
Long Distance events are the track events that most challenge human
endurance. But in today's time there is another element require in these
races i.e. speed. India's best middle and long distance runners will
assemble at the Sree Kanteerava stadium on 3rd July to take part in the
National Inter-state Senior Athletics Championship 2005. Today we will
look into present and past of these events at the Senior Nationals. 800m: The 800 meters is the event where the demands of speed and speed-endurance converge. Shiny Wilson is the first Indian women to break two minutes for the 800m at Chennai in 1995 with 1:59.85s. She also holds the distinction of winning maximum no. of titles i.e. 9 times in Middle and Long Jump Distance category at the Senior Nationals. Legend of Indian Athletics Sriram Singh whose record in 800m of 1:45.77s set at Montreal Olympics in 1976 is still unbeaten after 29 years. Avtar Singh of Punjab once ruled this event during 1988-95 with 5 wins in 7 finals held. This year, in the absentee of K M Binu , Ghamanda Ram is expected to took the title since he is the lone athlete to dip below 1:50 in 800m this season with 1:49.36s followed by S. J. Sohesh (1:50.19s) of Maharashtra and Kerala's Primesh (1:50.21s) . Rivalry between Sunita Kanojiya of Delhi and Jharkhand's Sinimol Paulose will produce great timings in the 800m at Bangalore. Both had done below 2:08 this season. To challenge them, upcoming S. Shanthi (2:09.17) of Tamilnadu will provide much needed pace in the last lap. 1500m run: It's the classic middle distance event - demanding a combination of speed, staying power and tactical acumen. Previously Edward Sequira (1964-69) and Bahadur Prasad (1990-2000) had ruled the 1500m scene in India. Edward's record of 3:43 remained unbeaten for long 25 years. Later Bahadur Prasad became the first Indian to cross 3:40 barrier in 1500m when he took SAF Games title at Chennai with 3:38.00s in 1995. At present Ghamanda Ram is leading the season with 3:52.11s while Uttranchal's Pritam Bind (3:52.53) and T M Sanjeev (3:52.61) are close to Ghamanda's performance. In the men's 5000m there are four runner this season who had timings in 14min. Senior National will be the second race of the season for 5000m runners. Federation cup winner Sunil Kumar (14:34.68s) of Haryana had decent lead over the others. In the women's section India had produced many Asian best middle distance runners which includes K C Rosa Kutty (Kerala/Karnataka) 1986-97 who had won this event on six occasions while Karanataka's Jalaja Naresh had honour of winning it 5 times. Asian double gold medallist and Member of Parliament Jyotirmoyee Sikdar of West Bengal had 4 podium finish in 1500m at the Senior Nationals. Suman Rawat of Himachal Pradesh had won it 4 times. Current Asian Games champion and National record holder Sunita Rani who had made successful comeback this season after long 2 years of break due to various reason. Sunita is still dominating this event with a huge lead to the challengers. She is leading the rank with 4:16.72s clocked at Singapore Asian GP on May 21. To qualify for the World Championship, Sunita must put her act together to dip below 4:08 at the Bangalore Senior Nationals. Women 5000m event was never anybody's domain but Sunita Rani had made it by winning it on three occasions i.e. 1998, 2002 & 2003. She is looking forward for 4th title at this event at Bangalore. Sunita is also holding the current National record of 15:18.77s. Sunita is also eagerly anticipating making 10000m national record on her name which she had missed narrowly at the Ludhiana circuit meet on May 24. Maharashtra's Leelamma had won this event on three edition held in 1993, 1995 (Bangalore ) and 1995 (Chennai). She is currently India's leading marathon runner. 3000m Steeplechase: There is an interesting story about this event. This event was born out of a wager among Oxford students in 1850, and initially imitated horse racing. The first events were held over 2 miles (3218 m), with hurdles, other obstacles and streams to cross on a route across open country. Like jockeys, the runners were given weight handicaps! Steeplechasing was brought to the track as part of the English championships in 1879. It entered the Olympic Games programme in 1900, with two events, at 2500m and 4000m, returned in 1904 over 2500m and took place over 2 miles (3200m) in 1908. In 1954 the IAAF standardised the rules for this speciality, and specified a 400m track, 0.914 m (3 ft) hurdles, plus a water jump (3.66m wide, 0.70 m deep) in each lap, with a distance of 78 metres between each obstacle. For the first time, official steeplechase world records were ratified. Today the standard steeplechase distances are 2000m and 3000m. (Source: IAAF) Arun D'souza of Karnataka but representing Andhra Pardesh has an excellent record in this event. He is unbeaten in this event for last 7 years. He had won it on 4 occasions including hat-trick (2002-04). He is confident to defend his title for the 4th time in row this year. Arun is also looking forward to run the gruelling race in 8:40 at Bangalore. From history: Most wins in National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championship. MEN: 800m: 5 - Avtar Singh (Punjab/Bengal) 1988-95 1,500m: 6 - Bahadur Prasad 1990-2000 5 - Edward Sequeira (Maharashtra) 1964-69 5,000m: 5 - Bahadur Prasad 1989-95 4 - Edward Sequeira (Maharashtra) 1967-72 4 - Raj Kumar (Rajasthan) 1982-88 10,000m: 3 - Mohan Singh 1970-72 (hat-trick) 3 - Shivnath Singh 1974-81 3,000m Steeplechase: 5 - Gopal Saini 1978-84 4 - Arun D'Souza 1997, 2002-4 (hat-trick) 3 - Chuni Lal 1963-65 WOMEN: 800m: 9 - Shiny Wilson 1982-95 6 - Geeta Zutshi 1974-81 4 - K C Rosa Kutty 1988-97 1,500m: 6 - K C Rosa Kutty (Kerala/Karnataka) 1986-97 5 - Jalaja Naresh (Karnataka) 4 - Suman Rawat (Himachal Pradesh) 4 - Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (West Bengal) 5,000m: 3 - Sunita Rani (Punjab) 1998, 2002 & 2003 10,000m: 3 - L Leelamma (Maharashtra) 1993, 1995 (Bangalore) & 1995 (Chennai) With inputs from Ram. Murali Krishnan Rahul Pawar |