It was the sight of fancy-looking but basic wooden hurdles that got National record holder Tejas Shirse into the sport back in Aurangabad.
In a podcast with India Sports Hub, Shirse headed to the Tokyo Worlds next, recalled how he started and how he was pushed to excel in sport by a former strict armyman, who was founder of his school. Late Major GK Ghuge had also been on former President APJ Abdul Kalam’s security details before he turned to becoming an educator and encouraged top level sport.
“Hurdles is very technical in Track & Field. I started in 2015 or 2016, it started in school. They pushed athletes a lot to do well. It was the Maharashtra Public School, and the founder was Major GK Ghuge who had been personal security head of late President APJ Abdul Kalam. He was a strict disciplinarian. He’s passed away now but I learnt a lot of discipline from him,” Shirse told India Sports Hub. “He pushed sport a lot. Training got etched. I tried all sports. We had fancy wooden hurdles. I really liked the stepping and rhythm.”
The hurdler with a left leg lead having secured national records in both 60m and 110m, said he’s not content with the 13.41seconds. “National record is not enough. In 60 m and 110m..NR means a lot, but it’s not everything. I’m happy about it, but there’s more to do,” he told India Sports Hub.
He is targeting 13.2 consistently which will give him opportunity to do well in other competitions. “I had ability to run 13-4 in 2022 also but did not have support, and system. When I went through failure, I trained with a guy who did 13.3, and I realised you really push yourself. It’s all in finer details. Why’s world record not happening in a national meet? It will only happen in World Championship or Diamond League.”
He also said he looked forward to forming a close knit team like Neeraj Chopra. “Spectrum of things need to work to medal at Olympics Better competition, we need particular focus, narrow it down to 110. How Neeraj has done it. He had his own team. No outsiders. And that’s how you put yourself in that zone. He put himself in that position. That’s required,” he told India Sports Hub. “Foreign competitions yes, but also training with people who are at higher level. Most part of year, I train by myself. But I’m not gonna learn from a junior as much as a senior. Who’s better than me. We have started at Reliance but need is to put me in better competition and train with better people for a longer period of time. Have a close proximity team who I can trust.”
Shirse said he was inspired by Tejaswin Shankar and how he communicates about his sport. “Got inspired watching him on Olympics commentary. He was speaking well. Decided I will also try making videos.”
Story continues below this ad
He explained the process of getting a National record to India Sports Hub. “I was very excited to make NR at 13.41. I first pumped and said ‘ho gayaa’. I just wanted to run as hard as possible. I did not care about timing. But when I saw, I said ‘Ok I did it.’.
In sprints, runners get that feeling they have done well. Excitement and ecstacy comes right after finish line. They don’t even want to or don’t see the block. The feeling tells you.
“Most important is preparation. Race starts before it starts. When you wake up day before the competition how you are, what’s mindset going into competition. Because you maybe best prepared but on the day you don’t feel so well. You can still perform well but you are not in your zone. The 13.41 race I got that oomph, I prepared really well. I was sure of what I wanted to do. Warmup was good, very aggressive. Half the race you win in warmups how well you do it. Make sure you control everything at that point. Fuelling was sorted. In the warmup you have to have authority. I become blank just before a race forget about everything,” he told India Sports Hub.
He’s faced setbacks at Asian Games, Asian Championships, Paris Olympics. “Failures are important. How you get through them. I took accountability for each of them. I never pushed out that the blame was with someone or something else. I demand from myself more than what anybody could demand from me. My coach also know this after 2 years. It’s my superpower and curse too. It’s a paradox – you demand from yourself and relax as well. Working on relaxation part,” he added to India Sports Hub.
Shirse is scheduled to log in a few races in Europe before heading to Tokyo.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
