Be
it the 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh or the PT Usha's, the country had always seen
ace sprinters emerge from either north or southern India.
Eastern
India till now had seen middle-distance runners like Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, a
two-time Asian Games gold medalist in 800m & 1500m, excel internationally
but this is the first time when eastern India is seeing a 200m national
champion Amiya Mallick displaying the potential to take on the best in the
world.
Mallick,
who hails from Bhubaneshwar, will train under Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt's
coach Glen Mills for a period of four months beginning January 14 as part of
his preparations for the Asian Games (July 23 to Aug. 3) and Commonwealth Games
(Sept 19 to Oct. 4). He will train at Mills' academy - the Racers Track Club.
Besides
Bolt, Mills has trained the likes of 2012 London Games 100m silver medalist
Yohan Blake of Jamaica, 1999 World Championship silver medalist Dwayne Chambers
of Britain, 2002 Manchester CWG 100m gold medalist Kim Collins from St Kitts in
the Caribbean and 1984 Olympics 4x100m silver medalist Ray Stewart. Currently
he is Jamaica's relay team coach.
"I
will train under Usain's coach Mills for four months. I will be flying to
Kingston via Newark on January 12. I will train under Mills and am sure the
program will help me improve my timing as well as confidence.
I
will talk to him about how to improve my fitness and stamina," Mallick,
who is employed by Indian Oil, told reporters at a press meet on Monday.
The
21-year-old, who holds a personal best time of 10.5sec in 100m and 21.22sec in
200m, is mentored by women's national 100m champion Rachita Mishra and coached
by Neel Madhav Dev of National Institute of Sports at his hometowm. It was
Mishra's effort that prompted the Orissa Athletics Association to sponsor his
trip.
"My
target is to have a podium finish at the CWG and Asian Games. 200m is my main
event. If I can shave off even 2-3 seconds from my best time I will qualify for
the main race in the CWG and Asian Games and even break the national record of
20.73. Some more push and I can see myself wearing a medal.
I am
thankful to my state association and Tata Steel for taking care of my expenses.
As there are no national camps in the intervening period I am relatively
free," said Mallick, who can be confused for a 'long walker' or a
marathoner for his lean structure.
Mallick
started running at the age of five but only realized he had the requisite
skills to do well globally after a brilliant display at the 2009 National
School Games - where he won gold in all the sprint categories.
"I
sustained a quadriceps tear before the National Games in Ranchi, so I switched
to 200m from 100m. That did take a good time to heal but am fit now. I am
excited for my Jamaica sojourn and hope I can bring cheer on everyone's face
with some good results thereafter," he said.
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