On Friday, Indian track and field athletes and national federation officials expressed satisfaction over the postponing of the Hangzhou Asian Games, stating that they will no longer need to “peak” their performance late in the season.
Officials Opens Up on postponement of Asian Games
This year included three major events: the World Championships (July 15-24) in Eugene, USA, the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (July 28 to August 8) and the Asian Games, all of which required competitors to “peak” at all times.
The Asian Games have been postponed, which has lessened its weight.
The Hangzhou Asian Games, which were due to take place from September 10 to September 25, were put on the back burner on Friday due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in China.
“It’s good. How many times can an athlete peak in a year? There is the CWG, the World Championships, and the Asian Games, all of which need athletes to perform at their best. “It’s challenging for them,” Athletics Federation of India President Adille Sumariwalla told PTI.
“A few elderly athletes may be hurt by the Asian Games postponement, but generally it is wonderful for us.”
When the Asian Games are held on new dates, our athletes will be able to focus on it, and we should win more medals than in the last edition in 2018.” Athletics is the sport in which India has won the most medals at the Asian Games. Athletics has provided 254 of the country’s total 672 medals.
In the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, Indian track and field athletes won 20 medals (8 gold, 9 silver, and 3 bronze) out of a total of 70.
The athletes were prepared for the Hangzhou Asian Games, according to Indian athletics chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair, but the postponement will reduce their burden this season.
“With three major competitions scheduled, this is the most difficult year of my coaching career.” This year, we had planned in a very different way. We have athletes that will just compete in the Asian Games (such as Jinson Johnson) and others who will compete in the CWG, World Championships, and Asian Games (such as Neeraj Chopra and Avinash Sable).