 |
Kathmandu Tuesday August 07, 2001 Shrawan 23, 2058.
|
Coaches expect Nepal’s
better results in 9th SAF Games athletics
By Purushottam Kattel
KATHMANDU, Aug 6 - Nepal has remained the
dominant force in long-distance runs among the South Asian sphere, especially in marathon,
where the champion marathoner, Baikuntha Manandhar, dominated his South Asian challengers
until the 7th South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in 1995.
But it seemed that his retirement marked the
end of Nepal’s golden era in the event. Ganesh Rai, who was highly tipped to follow
the footsteps of Manandhar, could only muster the third position, finishing behind two Sri
Lankans, despite all the cheerful home support alongside the 42km course.
Gyan Bahadur Bohara’s stunning silver
medal winning performance in the men’s 5,000 meters and five other bronze medals
brought some consolation to the host. But as the Nepali team prepares for the upcoming SAF
Games in Islamabad, Pakistan, marathon once again emerges as only one of the 12 athletic
events where the coaches have pinned hopes of the athletics gold.
They believe Islamabad’s low altitude as
one of the factors that could help the Nepali athletes to perform better.
"Our athletes are used to the training
at high altitude where the oxygen level is quite low," Sushil Rana explains. "So
they can have more oxygen intake as they run at low altitude like in Is lamabad. That will
definitely increase the performance level."
There are apprehensions among marathon
runners about the training method, though.
We’re only running 35km which is well
below the 42km mark," shies Yam Bahadur Pudasaini. "That eventually leads to
poor timing."
But the chief athletics coach Narayan Yadav
said it was because of the lack of time, preventing from training the full course.
"Once the players run 42kms, they need at least three months’ rest before
resuming another race," he explains. "Unfortunately, we don’t have so much
time left to carry out the full-course training."
He looks content with the performance of the
players in other events too. "The most important thing that any athlete should
possess is willingness to perform," Yadav says. "They’re showing plenty of
it as they train in two shifts each day. I’m pretty much sure the performance this
time would be better than that in the last SAF Games."
A total of 44 athletes, who have been
selected through the open competition, are undergoing regular training at the closed-camp.
Out of them, according to the country’s athletics governing body—NAAA, 22
athletes will make up the athletics’ final contingent to Pakistan. |
