Triple jumpers blame form, fitness dip on foreign coach

Barely a year ago, India’s triple jumpers were basking in the glory of a historic gold-silver finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Since then, there has been a surprising dip in their performances that is causing concerns, especially in an important season.

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Four jumpers -- CWG gold medallist Eldhose Paul, silver medallist Abdulla Aboobacker, Karthik Unnikrishnan and Praveen Chithravel -- crossed 17m last year. For the first time, three Indian triple jumpers qualified for the World Championships, in Eugene. The domestic season witnessed intense competition among them as they chased the national record with vigour.

Going into the crucial year of Asian Games, World Championships and the Paris Olympics qualification cycle, they were expected to step up. However, it is turning out to be a rather bleak story.

Chithravel is the only jumper who has looked in good form. He got past 17m thrice and set a new national mark (17.37m) in a meet in Cuba in May, currently the fourth best jump of 2023. Chithravel trains away from the national camp.

Jumpers seek change of guard

It is the form of the jumpers in the national camp that raises serious concern.

Those under Russian horizontal jumps coach Denis Kapustin in the national camp claim his training methods are not giving them the desired result. It is actually affecting their progress.

It is learnt the elite jumpers in the camp have informed the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) of their reluctance to continue working with Kapustin. The Sydney Olympics triple jump bronze medallist was roped in by AFI in May last year. Since the elite jumpers were showing good results under domestic coach M Harikrishnan and it was in the middle of the season, AFI asked them to continue with their training programmes. Paul, Aboobacker and Unnikrishnan had been training with Harikrishnan for some time.

Kapustin completely took over their training last November, during off-season.

However, the new season saw jumpers struggle with various fitness issues. Paul is troubled by a heel injury while Abdulla and Karthik are fighting tendon and ligament niggles. A younger jumper Gailey Venister, who showed good progress last year, has not competed at all this season due to an ankle injury for which he has undergone surgery.

One of the campers, who did not wish to be named, said Kapustin’s training programme didn’t suit them.

“We were following a different training pattern and suddenly there was a change in programme in the off-season. There was not enough time for him (Kapustin) to understand our bodies. It takes time to adapt to a new training structure, and this season is packed with competitions. It was difficult to get used to his workload and the technical changes he suggested. It is leading to fitness issues,” said the jumper. Extra stress in the heel is one of the problems.

Another jumper said they have apprised AFI chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair as well as officials of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme. “This season was not a time to experiment. We have explained the situation to the federation and we have also requested TOPS that we want coach Harikrishnan back in the national camp.”

Harikrishnan was still in the national camp when Kapustin took over, until the athletes were asked to follow the Russian’s training methods. When asked about the issues of the jumpers, Harikrishnan, a former international, refused to comment, saying he was “no longer part of the national camp”. Chief coach Nair didn’t respond to phone calls.

Qualification woes

Things came to a point that even meeting AFI’s qualifying standard for the Asian Games (16.60m) became difficult to achieve. Eventually, at the Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar last month, Abdulla (16.88m) and Paul (16.75m) scrape through, while finishing second and third. Chitravel won the event (17.07).

Paul was the most consistent jumper last season, going past 16.90m four times. He even got an invitation to the Doha Diamond League in May, but he managed a poor 15.84m. Abdulla recorded a personal best of 17.19m last year. This season, the 16.88m at Bhubaneswar is his best. At the Montreuil International Meeting in France in May, he jumped 16.80m. Karthik's personal best also came last year (17.10m) while this season his best is 16.44m, at the Federation Cup in May.

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