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Ace sprinter Srabani Nanda has not been a daily within the Indian athletics workforce for some time now however she is leaving no stone unturned to make a second Olympic look, spending no matter she has to coach in far off Jamaica amid a raging pandemic. The 29-year-old Nanda turned the primary Indian track-and-field athlete to take part in a contest amid the COVID-19 pandemic, operating the 100m race on the Velocity Fest assembly in Kingston earlier this week. She has been based mostly in Jamaica for the reason that starting of the 12 months and is counts herself lucky to have employers, who gave her the liberty to coach with full wage.
“I work with Hydropower Corporation of Odisha government, they give me salary and support to train full-time. Whatever is the (financial) gap, I manage myself and friends also help me,” she informed PTI from Jamaica.
“I am here from the beginning of this season. I do train sometimes and compete sometimes. I chose to train at a better place no matter the struggles I have to face,” stated Nanda, who has been participating in athletic meets in Jamaica since 2017.
Representing the MVP Track membership, she received warmth two in 11.78 seconds for a third-place end total within the meet which additionally featured the likes of reigning Olympic champion Elaine Thompson and dash nice Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Nanda’s final worldwide medal — a bronze in 4x100m relay — got here from the Asian Athletics Championships in 2017 held on the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
Since then, she has not been part of the Indian workforce, which competed in prime meets just like the Asian and World Championships in 2019.
She is, nonetheless, hopeful of creating the lower for Tokyo Olympics, which won’t been a straightforward activity with the qualifying timings in each the 100m and 200m occasions (11.15sec and 22.80sec respectively) being effectively above her private finest.
“Right now I am training for both (100m and 200m). I am confident about both the events. I focus on myself and to do well is my priority. I have to be confident with hope,” she stated when requested whether or not she really sees herself making the lower for the Olympics subsequent 12 months.
Nanda competed within the 2016 Rio Olympics within the 200m occasion and completed sixth in her warmth race. She has a private bests of 11.45 and 23.07 seconds in 100m and 200m respectively.
Asked if competing in the midst of a pandemic was disconcerting, Nanda stated she didn’t really feel something particular.
“Now everywhere people are competing according to situations. Yes, we do maintain social distancing, it is compulsory and spectators are not allowed in the stadium when we raced,” she stated.
Jamaica is among the least COVID-19 affected international locations on the earth with simply 116 lively instances at current (837 complete instances with 711 already recovered).
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Asked about competing together with a number of the world’s finest sprinters like Thomson and Fraser-Pryce, she stated, “Elaine Thomson is in my club MVP Track Club and all of them are good. It is a huge experience and I am learning a lot.”
Asked if she is going to return to India to participate within the home occasions deliberate later this 12 months, Nanda stated, “I am not sure about anything in this situation. My coach will decide, it depends on the situation. The Athletics Federation of India has tentatively fixed September 12 as the start date for the domestic season.”
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