Anjana Thamke: One for the future

Middle-distance runner believes gold-medal winning performance at Asian Youth Games is a sign of things to come

When Tintu Luka became the first and only Indian woman to break the two minute mark in the 800 meter middle-distance running event,clocking at one minute and 59 seconds,it became a record expected to go unchallenged for a long time. Three years after the record was set,15-year old Anjana Thamke has put forward a claim to better that timing. After a stellar performance at the recently concluded Asian Youth Games in Nanjing,China,Thamke won the gold in the 800 meter event by beating her closest opponent by three seconds. The impressive feat has showered her with further awards and set a clock ticking against Luka’s record.

The dream,however,is not expected to end just by breaking the record. This is just the beginning for her, says coach Vijender Singh,who had accompanied his ward during her Chinese outing. She has been training for just under two years but she has excelled. She’s still a long way from hitting her peak,but when she does,she will easily break the two minute mark and get a national record. Not only that,she has a really good chance of winning medals at Olympics and the Commonwealth Games. Thamke too shares her coach’s enthusiasm about breaking the national record,but is more concerned about entering the Olympics. I’m working hard,I hope to God that I make it to the next Olympics, she says. I want to win a medal there,preferably the gold. That is my ultimate goal.

Born in Ganeshgaon,a village 42 kilometers away from Nashik,in November of 1997,the middle-distance runner’s story did not start off with training sessions and a commitment to the sport. With both parents,Dhavalu and Nandabai,working as farmers,she and her younger brother Sachin were often called to assist them in the rice field. The effect of the strenuous work was that it started building up her stamina,an occurrence oblivious to the young prodigy. What also helped is the fact that she used to run around 12 kilometers a day just to get to school and back home.

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While in sixth standard at the Zilla Prathamik Vidyalaya,she developed keen interest in kabaddi and started participating in the sport. But her first inclination towards middle-distance running came after she was enrolled in a village school athletics competition. I did really well in the running events, she explains. My teachers were surprised at how well I performed and they immediately asked me to participate in an upcoming district athletics meet in Nashik. It was at this particular event in 2011 where she caught the eye of Vijender,a Sports Authority of India (SAI) accredited coach.

She was introduced to her first pair of spikes when she began training at the Bhonsala Military School (BMS) in Nashik in 2011. The school’s 400 meter mud track soon became her own as her training reflected in her dominating the junior division record books in the 800 meter and 1500 meter national events,with the former being her preferred format. In order to fulfill her training,Thamke spends a significant amount of time away from home. I often miss my family but I know that I’m in Nashik for a reason, she says. If I kept remembering home when I was in China,then I would have never won. It’s all about concentrating on what needs to be done.

Vijender states that given the hardships she faced as a little girl,the training facilities at the BMS were easy for her to adjust to. You can say that her lifestyle was upgraded here.

Given her stellar performances and an impressive run of form,there was little surprise when she was added to the Indian contingent for the Youth Asian Games in Nanjing,China last month. Her first trip abroad was to prove to be her most memorable achievement so far. Picking up the gold medal at the 800 meter event by beating the second-place athlete by a significant three seconds,and setting her personal best time at two minutes 11 seconds in the process,Thamke felt she was on top of the world. I was so happy and so relieved, she says. My coach,my family and friends,everyone was so happy since nobody had ever thought about me reaching so far. Everyone in the village too was happy and they all came to celebrate with me when I got back.

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As for the immediate future,Thamke will compete in the Asian School Athletics Championship in Malaysia,starting 19th September.

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