How Aditya Pisal scripted dream finish to overcome sprinters' nightmare at Khelo India
Patna, May 15 (UNI) It was a dream for budding sprinter Aditya Pisal to win the gold medal in the Khelo India Youth Games, especially after facing a painful disqualification two months back. By bagging two yellow metal pieces Pisal was able to overcome the nightmares he faced since March 10.
Pisal achieved the two top podium finishes on Tuesday in boys 100m (10.62 seconds) and as part of the Maharashtra boys 4X100 m relay team where he ran the third leg on the curve to help the quartet to gold in 4155 seconds.
'I trained with the goal of winning the Khleo India Youth Games 100 m gold. I had to recalibrate after being disqualified for an early start when I competed on this track a couple of months ago. I was in better form then and heartbroken,' 16-year-old Pisal told media persons while recalling the March 10 disqualification.
'When I lined up at the start of the 100m final on Tuesday, I had to overcome my fears about making another false start in the first event after the disqualification in the AFI National Youth Championships,' he said.
'March 10 was a black day for me,' Pisal said, replaying the unhappy sequence of events in his mind. "Though, I won the 200 m bronze a couple of days later, the early start in the 100m hurt for a long time. My coach and I were extremely disappointed with that disqualification, but I had to overcome that bitter, but learning, experience.'
\\\\Son of a home maker mother and Public Works Department Head Clerk, Pisal trains with coach Shrinivas Gupta, a World Athletics Level 2 certified coach, at the Father Agnel Gymkhana in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. He chose athletics over football in which he represented Maharashtra in the national sub-junior championships, but said it was a natural decision.
'I always loved running fast. When a teacher saw me run on the Football pitch, he suggested that I try my hand with athletics. I liked it when I attempted sprinting and knew that this is what I wanted to do – run as fast as I can and faster than everyone else. I also how Usain Bolt and other sprinters were respected. I wanted to create my own identity as a sprinter,' he said.
Pisal is aware that sprinting is less followed in India compared to other track events like 400m in which the relay teams have enjoyed the spotlight and the middle- and long-distance races. 'I want to change that. I want to compete for India at the world stage and I also want to run sub-10-second races, 9.9 and 9.8,' Pisal said, indicating that he would not shift to the longer races. UNI KKS SSP
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