The Junior Nationals, which is currently on, offers a wonderful view of the future of Indian athletics but surprisingly none of the national coaches are here to watch them.
AFI, the national body, was keen to hold a separate 400m Nationals and had scheduled one in Dharamshala too to spot talented youngsters and add depth to its mile relay teams. It has plans to have a javelin Nationals too.
Since the 400m and javelin Nationals were not held this year, the senior and junior national coaches — including the new relay team coach Galina Bukharina who is now in Thiruvananthapuram — and German javelin throw coach Uwe Hohn should have been in full strength at the junior meet here.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We had sent a letter to the Government to release them from the National camps and send them here, but I don’t know what happened after that,” said C.K. Valson, the AFI secretary.