India's top shot putter Om Prakash Singh Karhana is fully aware that he is not exactly among the favourites to win a medal in London Olympics but he considers himself as the dark horse who can be on the podium with a bit of luck.
The 25-year-old, who has been training in Hungary for the last two years, told PTI in a telephone interview that his first aim is to qualify for the final before thinking of a medal.
"I am aware that no Indian has won an Olympic medal in athletics. But I don't want to put extra burden on myself thinking that I want to win a medal. I am not doing that. My first aim is to make it to the final round. From then on I can think about winning a medal," he said from Szombathely where he is currently based.
"Olympics is the biggest sporting event and every athlete wants to win a medal there. But what matters is the performance on that particular day. I consider myself to be among the top-level competitors and if luck is in my favour, I can finish on the podium," he added.
Om Prakash qualified for London Olympics a year ago with a throw of 20.04 metres in an IAAF meet at Szombathely before recently shattering Shakti Singh's 12-year-old national record by hurling the iron ball to 20.69m. He claims to be in prime form.
{{/usCountry}}Om Prakash qualified for London Olympics a year ago with a throw of 20.04 metres in an IAAF meet at Szombathely before recently shattering Shakti Singh's 12-year-old national record by hurling the iron ball to 20.69m. He claims to be in prime form.
{{/usCountry}}"I have got time to prepare myself for the Olympics. Since the beginning of the year my focus has been on physical fitness and mental aspect.
"Except for a minor elbow problem which came up in the last two weeks while training and which is all right now, there were no issues at all. I am in the best shape of my career," said the Haryana-lad who stands at six feet and seven inches.