Young shot putter Omkar Prasad Nanda resorted to using a worn-out shoe, while runner C Priyanka relied on her experience of training on a curvy track as athletes and officials adjusted to an unfamiliar setting at the inaugural National Indoor Championships which began here on Tuesday.
Nanda was among the fortunate few who had been training at the state-of-the-art indoor stadium hosting the championships as he resides at the residential hostel attached to the facility. He has been training here for the last 10-14 days but is still mindful of the possibility of slipping on the throwing circle made of wood.
“The throwing circle in outdoor events is made of cement and so there is grip with your shoe and you have more confidence. But in indoor events, the throwing circle is made of wood and is a little bit slippery. So, you have to be careful that you don’t slip and get injured,” said Nanda, who won gold in U-20 section with a throw of 17.77m.
“It can be slippery when you start rotating. If everything is OK at the start of rotation, I get good ascent and distance. Luckily, I did not slip today, may be because I have gotten used to it as I’ve been training here for the last 10 to 14 days,” said the Odisha athlete who made his debut in the indoor competition.
“I also wore an old shoe which I have been using for around two and a half years so that the sole is little worn out and thus has grip. A new shoe may be more slippery,” added Nanda, whose father works in the police.
For senior women’s 3000m run gold winner Priyanka, past training experience on 200m tracks, though outdoors, helped. “The track here was a very nice experience, I did not get any tightness. Since we normally run in 400m track, the 200m track was a little more curvy. For that we have to adjust,” said the Karnataka athlete, who emerged winner with a time of 9 minute 42.05 seconds.
Learning experience for officials, too
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has a vast experience of organising national and international events, but it was also a learning experience for the officials while organising the National Indoor Championships.
“I will not say that it is a very challenging but a learning experience for us also as it is the first indoor event in the country. The rules and regulations are the same, the logistics are almost the same. The only difference is the 200m track which are slopped and more curvy than the outdoors 400m track,” said AFI treasurer and technical committee member Stanley Jones.
In indoors, there is not impact from winds, temperature and weather variations, it’s a more controlled and consistent environment. Moreover, there will be no impact of rain in indoors and that is a plus point as compared to outdoors. On the other hand, indoor events are held one after the other and there is not much gap between the two sessions in a day. Since it is a much smaller space, you can’t hold too many events together. In outdoors, you can hold jump or throw events together, but not in indoors. There is no space.
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