Indian Athletics Thread ...

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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by arjun2761 »

Great effort by Neeraj! Looks like he'll need to get to 90m to medal in 2020 and he is on his way there!
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by Sin Hombre »

Multiple athletes performing at the highest level from the same country always makes you think about spinach of some kind.
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by Prashant »

Until I hear otherwise from someone in the know, I've been giving Neeraj a pass on that suspicion. His progression hasn't had some of the red flags that other Indian track & field athletes demonstrate, and he is still very young. I hope that I will not be disabused of giving him the benefit of the doubt.
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by Sin Hombre »

I wasn't referring to Neeraj. His career has followed elite progression right from a young age.
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by jaydeep »

Some encouraging words from reigning world champion Johannes Vetter and Kenyan Julius Yego.

Neeraj can throw close to 90m this year: World champion Vetter
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by sameerph »

It is ok even if he does not cross 90 M this year. He does not need to rush things in going for too much and get injured or something. He is only 20 and can follow his natural progression. Next step should be a gold at Asian games and for that a throw in 86-88 range should be enough. Then, he can go towards 90M and beyond by Tokyo 2020.
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by sameerph »

Vikas Gowda retires .

CWG gold medallist discus thrower Vikas Gowda retires

He was one of our better athletes. Gold in 2014 CWG and a silver in 2014 Asiad and 8th place in London 2012 Olympics were his best efforts. Sadly, he could not beyond 66M mark in discuss which could have given hopes of the elusive athletics medal in Olympics.
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by arjun2761 »

Vikas was very good from a young age as a thrower and improved to perform well at the CWG and Asian levels. Did not quite become the world beater he had the potential to be. Nevertheless, he is likely our most decorated thrower until hopefully Neeraj Chopra dethrones him in the near future.

Meanwhile, Tejaswin Shankar has broken our national high jump mark with a jump of 2.29 mts and is gunning for the NCAA championship in his event to join the likes of Vikas Gowda and Mohinder Singh Gill (in triple jump) who were previous Indians to win the NCAA titles in their events.
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by sameerph »

19 year old Tejswin Shankar won gold in NCAA Championships yesterday. He became only the third Indian to win an NCAA athletics title-

High jump star Tejaswin Shankar shines in USA, wins gold in NCAA Championships
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by suresh »

Great result. What happened to his strained neck? That didn't come in the way?
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by arjun2761 »

Awesome win by Tejaswin! The wet conditions and the marine air in Eugene (OR) would have made it difficult to achieve great heights but winning the NCAA title as a freshman is a pretty terrific achievement!
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by jayakris »

Apparently, he is only the 5th freshman ever to win an NCAA high jump title.

That's all well and good, but I don't really care, except to be happy that he is not regressing. Till he does something for India, I will not become a big fan. But he is so young, that I will have to give him a pass for now, on this neck thing. He says his landing is awkward and that it keeps hurting his neck, making it worse. He wants to do off-season training to correct the technique so he can keep his neck safe. I have not been able to find any Kansas or US news outlets (or his coach) talking about the neck issue, but he suddenly started telling everybody in India 10 days ago, when he said he is skipping Asiad, that he has a neck issue that is serious enough. I guess he is not lying, and he probably took a chance for NCAAs - which he had to, because he is getting scholarship for doing what he just did.

But Asiad is much more important to me than an NCAA title, so I would have certainly preferred him doing his fixing of the landing technique after the Asiad. By the way, here is the KSU athletics article, which has a video clip of his jump. He does not appear to be concerned about his neck in the video, which can possibly happen when adrenaline is flowing and he is thrilled about the jump. There is also no mention of the neck from KSU or from his coach. But I see that many Indian newspapers have articles today, saying that he "paid a price for the jump" based on what he said to them.

Take it all for whatever it's worth. I will give him a pass, but anybody who skips Olympics, Asiad, etc, will need to show up for India later and do something for me to be excited as a fan.

EDIT: Here is a very detailed article from a US source last week - Tejaswin Shankar’s Unlikely Rise to NCAA Prominence. It talks about Tejaswin's neck issue (this was before the NCAA finals). The problem seems to be perfectly legit, and he had also gone through the horror of seeing first-hand what bad landing can do to the neck. Can't blame him for being careful. Great read. Okay, I will back off on being critical of him for skipping the Asiad.
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by Sin Hombre »

What's your concern Jay? Spinach?
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by prasen9 »

Jay was concerned that this guy cares for individual glory but not the country's. After reading the article, his concern was somewhat abated.
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Re: Indian Athletics Thread ...

Post by jayakris »

Sin Hombre wrote: Sun Jun 10, 2018 12:09 amWhat's your concern Jay? Spinach?
No, no spinach concerns. Like prasen said, I was just not happy that he skipped Asiad, saying he has a neck issue, as I felt it was more of a self-centered decision at first. But it looks like he has some valid reasons to do something about his landing technique, as he claims that it is hurting his neck. I still do no know why he cannot go do this Asiad and then get into fixing the issue, but I give him the benefit of the doubt, as only he knows the real reasons. It could be scheduling the right coach's or trainer's time properly - because fixing the jumping technique is probably not a quick thing. He possibly needs several months of a careful plan, before the next year's college athletics season and the 2019 Doha world athletic championship come up. A three-month delay till after the Asiad won't work out for him, I guess.
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