Behind relay teams’ tickets to Paris Olympics: Indian food, team bonding and all-weather training

When the microphone reached Asian Games gold medallist Amoj Jacob during the pre-meet conference for the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar, he provided the perfect ice-breaking moment for the evening. Amoj, who arrived after a long and tiring flight from the Bahamas after running the anchor leg for the 4x400m team that sealed a spot for Paris, clearly wanted to hit the hay as soon as possible. “To be honest, I don’t want to be here. I just want to go back to my room and sleep. I am waiting for this to end,” the 26-year-old Delhi boy joked, with a cheeky smile.

But he did have a point as the time difference between Nassau in Bahamas and India was bound to bring in jet lag. Amoj on Sunday ran the all-important anchor leg of the Olympic Qualification heats at the World Relays to help the team clock 3:03.23s and finish second behind the United States and book their Paris spot. Amoj along with his teammate Muhammed Ajmal will feature in the 400m event at the Fed Cup. From the women’s relay team, who also earned a Paris ticket this weekend, MR Poovamma, Jyothika Sri Dandi, and Subha Venkatesan feature on the 400m start list.

Even though drowsy due to jet lag, the relay members were in high spirits after Sunday’s triumph. Jyothika, and the rest of her teammates, credit the teams’ early arrival in the Bahamas for a training camp for the recent success. The Indians landed in the picturesque capital city of Nassau a month ahead of the World Relays to train and acclimate for the event.

India’s 4x400m relay team after securing a berth for the Paris Olympics. (AFI)

“We trained at the practice track outside the main stadium where the event was held. So when the competition happened it almost felt like it was another practice session. Had we landed a few days before the event, it would have felt different,” says Jyothika who clocked what would have been a personal best of 51.36s in her leg.

The Athletics Federation booked an apartment building close to the stadium and made arrangements for pickup and drops. An agreement was struck with an Indian restaurant in Nassau that ensured the athletes never felt homesick for food.

“Idli, dosas, fish fry, biryani…(the list goes on). Food was even better than what we had at our camp in Trivandrum,” says women’s assistant coach Nagesh as he swipes through food pictures from the camp on his phone.

On arrival in Nassau, jet lag wasn’t the team’s only challenge. The chilly winds in the late evening got the better of Ajmal and the rest. “The first week was the toughest for us. Almost all of us were down with a cold and fever,” says Nagesh.

But once the flu fled, the Indians didn’t look back, putting in the hard yards at the track and gym. Amoj feels nothing was unique or different in the training approach and sticking to the basics alone yielded great results.

Come rain or wind

The coaches also ensured the teams were weather-hardened by making them train in every condition possible. Running against the wind, under the sun, during breezy evenings, and even rain – the coaches didn’t leave any stone unturned.

“A few days before the final race it rained a lot but we made sure that we practised to prepare for all scenarios. What if it rained at the finals? We did not want to leave anything to chance,” explains Jyothika.

women’s 4x400m team of Rupal Chaudhary, MR Poovamma, Jyothika Sri Dandi, and Subha Venkatesan after qualifying for the Olympics. (AFI)

But all these efforts wouldn’t have yielded fruits had it not been for the team bonding among the relay members. It has been almost two years that the current lot has been training together at the national camp in SAI Trivandrum.

“We spend more time together than with our own families. Our favourite pastime is to pull each other’s legs. We are all like siblings,” says Subha while giving a strong yet “friendly” pat on Ajmal’s shoulder. “We also fight like siblings,” she adds.

For a relay team to do well, bonding off the field is essential, says Jyothika. “Rupal likes to run with the baton on the left hand, but I prefer the right. But since we had that bonding I was willing to make a little sacrifice and change my stance while receiving the baton from her. These are small things you can do only if there is some understanding,” she adds.

But having said that, both Subha and Jyothika know that there is stiff competition within the team cause only four make it to the final race.”We are friends but we don’t forget that on the track it is each person for their own. It is a healthy competition that pushes us further.”

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