Ok. Swetha stated athletes had a troublesome time on the worn-out Maharaja’s Stadium artificial track.
| Photo Credit: Stan Rayan
As Ok. Swetha neared the worn-out spots on the Maharaja’s Stadium artificial track, she turned a bit cautious. With the prime layer off in many areas, athletes competing in the Mahatma Gandhi University athletics championships right here had a troublesome time at the stadium.
“It was very difficult and during the race, we can’t see what we are running on,” stated State champion Swetha from Mar Athanasius College who gained the 3000m steeplechase gold on Tuesday to add to the 5000m title she had gained a day earlier.
The poor situation of the track meant that the timings in virtually all the events had been approach beneath the qualification standards for the coming National varsities championships fastened by the MG University.
“If you want better timings, we should have better facilities, not such a track,” stated seasoned coach George Emmanuel.
The MG University is now likely to remove its qualification standards for the track events as a particular case.
“This time, the quality of the track is not good and obviously in most of the events, the athletes may not have attained the qualification standards. In that case, we will be taking first and second-placed athletes in every event,” Binu George Varghese, the MGU’s Director of Physical Education, advised The Hindu on Tuesday.
“But there will be a single yardstick, we will remove the qualification standard only if the athletes have not achieved the standard in a majority of events.”
Since the championship will transfer to a special venue, the Mar Athanasius College at Kothamangalam for the jumps, throws and mixed events from Wednesday, the rest is likely to given to athletes solely for the track events.
