Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra
Bhubaneswar, July 16: Hopes have soared regarding sprinter Amiya Mallick after a plethora of good performances in 2015. Amiya won a bronze medal in the men’s 4×100 metres relay at the recently-concluded Asian Grand Prix Championships at Thailand and a silver medal in the men’s 100 metres at the 55th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Chennai.
However, Amiya is far from satisfied with his show. “I am not at all satisfied with my performance as far as the Asian Grand Prix is concerned. But a medal at an international event definitely boosts your confidence,” stated Amiya. Explaining the reasons for opting out of individual events Amiya said, “My coach Nilamadhab Rao did not want me to participate in individual competitions. So I did not participate. But it’s not that I will only be concentrating on team events. Whatever may be the event my focus will be to win medals for the country,” he added.
Talking about his performance in the National Inter-State meet, Amiya said, “I did not get much time to prepare for the meet as I just landed at Chennai from Thailand a week before the tournament. “I did not get any time to settle down at all but using my experience I managed to win the silver. At hindsight, if I had a bit more time, I could have won gold there,” he lamented.
Now Amiya has set sights on qualifying for the Beijing Worlds and Rio Olympics. But before that, he wants to create a new national record in the men’s 100 metres and 200 metres. Currently the record holder is Abdul Najeed (10.30 seconds) from Andhra Pradesh and in 200 it is Dharmveer Singh (20.66) of Karnataka.
Amiya’s current timings are 10.51 seconds and 21.22 seconds in 100 metres and 200 metres respectively. “I need to get my techniques correct and work on my endurance. I am working on these aspects with my coach,” he informed.
When asked about the facilities available he promptly said that records can only be achieved through teamwork and not just equipment and track. “It’s about having a good physio, nutritionist, masseuers, sports physiologist and sponsors. Thankfully MCL has agreed to sponsor me,” informed Amiya.