Back in the mix: Jinson hopes to impress on comeback
Jinson Johnson takes life as it comes. The middle-distance runner was among the stars of India's highly successful 2018 Asian Games campaign with a gold and silver medal to his name. Those were heady few years for Johnson who was on a national-record breaking spree (800m, 1500) -- he still holds them -- and looked set to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. He came agonisingly close, setting a national record in 1500m in Berlin in 2019, clocking 3:35.24s but fell short by microseconds (3:35.00s).
Life then took a sudden turn and threw him off track for three years. An Achilles tendon injury kept him away from the sport and then Covid struck him early in 2021 just before the Tokyo qualifying events. It turned out to be a long road to recovery for Johnson with the injury resurfacing last year. Johnson could not fulfill his dream of competing at the Olympics.
Disappointed, but not heartbroken, Johnson moved on to new endeavours in life, got married and started a family. This year, with the Asian Games in sight, Johnson has finally decided to pick himself up and resurrect his career.
At the Inter-state meet in Bhubaneswar last month, he tasted success -- winning the 1500m race, clocking 3:42.77s and met the qualifying mark of the Asian Games.
"It feels different. Last year I competed in just one event -- the Federation Cup -- and won a bronze medal. I am not used to that because from 2017-2019, I was winning only gold and silver medals in domestic meets. I was performing consistently and breaking national records," says Johnson.
"Then I was so sad with a 3:39.86s at the World Championships (Doha). Now I am so happy with a 3:40 and it makes me feel like I was breaking those records. It seems like a long time ago."
Johnson's first big test will be the Asian Championships starting in Thailand next week July 12-16. He has competed in six events this year with a best effort of 3min, 40.99sec coming at the Portland Track Festival in the United States. Johnson knows he is far off his own national record pace (3:35.24s) but he is relieved to have made a start.
"At the Asian Championships, I will give my best. Since I have been out for so long, I don’t know what to expect. Even in domestic competitions, I am not going with a target to win medals. At Inter-state, I wanted to be in the top 2 so that the selection becomes easier."
Defending his Asian Games gold in 1500m will be a tall task but Johnson is not going away without putting up a fight.
"The reason I came back was because I want to finish my career well. I am 32 and I can still compete. The only issue is that I have to keep doing rehab for the tendon injury. The pain was back before the IGP in Trivandrum in March."
Johnson was off running and doing cycling and swimming during that one month of rehab. The tendon injury first occurred during a camp in Colorado Springs in 2019.
"It was December and I am not used to training in cold conditions. There was a grade two tear and I was in hospital for a month. The Reliance Foundation has been supporting me and so has the federation. The problem with tendon injury is that recovery is very slow. It is like rubber. It can be there for life so I have to follow the rehab programme but any comeback is difficult."
The setback never stopped him from enjoying his life. "I never felt demotivated. I was unfit after being diagnosed with COVID. My marriage was planned in 2020 and with the Olympics postponed, I settled down in life. I spent a good time with my family. I don't take stress. I know I can put in the hard work and give my best efforts."
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