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Despite lockdown, the show continues for these young athletes
Yadav enjoys the company of her father and farmer Samar Bahadur Yadav, who not only helps her collect the javelin after every throw, but also keeps measuring the distance. The process continues for almost two hours in the morning.
Lockdown or no lockdown, the show has been going on for young javelin thrower Archana Yadav and over a dozen other athletes in one of Uttar Pradesh’s remote districts, Jaunpur, but with all precautionary measures to avoid being infected by COVID-19. The two beegha field in Manesha village, 30-km away from Jaunpur, has now become a playfield and Yadav, the gold and silver medallist at the state level, has been training hard to let her javelin cross the 42-metre mark.
Yadav enjoys the company of her father and farmer Samar Bahadur Yadav, who not only helps her collect the javelin after every throw, but also keeps measuring the distance. The process continues for almost two hours in the morning.
This isn’t all, as after finishing the daily routine, the thrower gives the daily progress report to her coach Rustam Khan on phone and asks for his suggestions.
“I didn’t want to stop training so I chose to continue at our field and this has been going on ever since the lockdown came into effect and I stopped visiting the stadium in Jaunpur for training,” said Yadav, who had a seventh-place finish at the 3rd Khelo India Youth Games in Guwahati this year with a throw of 36.45 metre.
“Before the lockdown was imposed, I managed to get my javelin at home from Jaunpur stadium and have been practicing hard as I wish to be India No 1 in my age category. Success at the national and international level will not only bring recognition to my family, but also help me get a job for a better living.”
Fifteen-year-old Archana, who has just passed class eight from her village’s junior high school, started just a year ago and within six months, she started winning medals at the district and state level. “Like any other kid, I too dream to do something big in life and I wish to fulfill all my dreams through sport.”
Besides Archana, over a dozen other athletes among the lot of 100-plus trainees at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Jaunpur too decided to stay back at their respective rented houses near the stadium and have been continuing training in lockdown. They include, shot put gold medallist at the Khelo India Youth Games Abhishek Singh, hammer thrower Virat Singh, Afsar, Divya Shandilya, Samrat, Aradhana, Sadhana, Navdeep, Subhash Yadav, Sudama, Prateek, Jayesh among others.
“I am not allowed to monitor the training of these dozen athletes physically, but I am in regular touch and keep giving tips,” says Rustam Khan.
The engrossing contest at the national championships in the 90s between two of Khan’s trainees, Pramod Tewari and Ishtiyaq Ahmed, still reminds one about his mastery in training throwers.
“They (athletes) didn’t listen to me when I told them to leave the town before the lockdown and decided to stay back here and continued training separately on rooftops or rented houses and nearby fields but they are following precautions to avoid getting infected by the virus,” said Khan, former India throwing coach.
“This has been the trend for the last many years as trainees keep following me wherever I go. I had over 90 trainees, including girls even when I was at Allahabad, and even now they all are here at Jaunpur for the last three years,” said the coach.
He, however, said that most of the youth come to him to get training and win medals at the national and international levels, mostly to get a government jobs. “It’s been a trend in almost all the sport these days, and hardly a few go ahead with the plans of winning medals for the country and doing something special in sport,” said Khan, who hails from Gyanpur in Bhadohi.
“I feel happy and see myself at the top whenever my trainee wins a medal at the national or international level. I have been to the national camp on a number of occasions, training several athletes, but I feel most satisfied when I train the juniors here in Jaunpur.”
“I have been in this profession for 32 years and enjoy my stint with young throwers,” said Khan, 57, who carries his own equipment for training. “It’s my supporters, people in sports bodies and the state government, who keep providing the required equipment. Even if they are not enough, I and my trainees contribute from our pockets to buy javelin, hammer and discus.”
In fact Khan had virtually said goodbye to athletics after winning bronze in under-17 hammer throw at the National Championships in Hissar and gold in both the under-17 and under-19s at Bengaluru and Calicut after he developed a back problem.
He was left with no choice but to pursue his family business of carpet trading at Jayas and Fursatganj units. But his passion for sport kept reminding him about his old dream.
His old friend in athletics, then national record holder in triple jump Rajendra Singh, kept inspiring him to opt for coach’s training. One fine morning, he left his house and went to NIS Patiala to pursue a degree in coaching.
“I wasn’t happy with my family business as I wanted to do something special in sport. Unwillingly, I had opted for the family business as I could not pursue a career in athletics because of a back problem.
“But when I got the opportunity at NIS, I decided to quit business and left home after confiding in my younger brother,” Khan recalls. There was opposition and anger when they came to know about my decision to go to Patiala, but now they are happy and admire my decision.”
Now promoted as sports officer at the state government-run stadium, about 12km from Jaunpur, Khan has also been instrumental in helping the local shopkeepers flourish around the stadium. “Almost all the shopkeepers are happy with the coaching camp for throwers in such a remote area. They get good business through my trainees. I didn’t know that sport could help business flourish,” Khan said.
