Meticulous planning; high altitude training, huge investment part of two-month long strategic preparation to achieve new goals this year.
Navneet Singh
Two-month long meticulous planning in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand was part of the long-term preparation for a group of Army athletes for weekend’s Indian Open Race Walking Competition in Chandigarh.
The Indian Army is not only investing in the core group of athletes but roped in foreign race walking coach from Colombia to improve the landscape of Indian race walking.
A large group of Indian Army athletes, including International race walker Servin Sebastian and promising national junior champion Nitin Gupta sweated for 40 long days in the thin air of Pauri Garhwal to enhance their endurance.
“The altitude ranges between 1800m to above 2000m in Pauri region,” Army’s race walking coach Basant Bahadur Rana told Sportsbackstory.com.
Basant Bahadur Rana, Olympian and retired race walker has been the guiding force behind moulding potential athletes to prepare for major international competitions and raise the overall standard of race walking in India.
Altitude training
The debate of benefits of training at elevation between 1500m to 2500m above sea level has been going on for long, but the majority of endurance athletes, including cyclists from across the globe have incorporated altitude as part of preparation for major competitions.
Doon Valley
The altitude camp in Pauri was followed by month long training in Doon Valley which is some 120 miles from Chandigarh where Army athletes will test their endurance over events ranging from 10km race walk to 42km.
“We reached Chandigarh two days back from Dehradun,” the Army coach revealed. Army race walkers have been dominating national race walking competitions. But strategy, it seems, this year is to think beyond national competition.
Asian Games
The target is podium finishes at Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July and Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September, the Army race walking coach said on the strategic long-term plan. “We are looking beyond national competition this year. That’s the main reason for investing in the core group of race walkers,” Basant Bahadur said over the phone from Chandigarh.
Foreign coach
The Indian army has also invested in the coaching department by roping in Colombia’s former international race walker—Luis Fernando Lopes for two long years in the build-up to 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. “The main goal is to change the landscape of the Indian race walking,” Basant Bahadur Rana said.
EOM
