Jolted Aldrin seeks redemption at Asian Games

“I don’t have a choice. What has happened has happened and I can’t do anything about it. I want to end my season on a high, possibly with a podium at the Asian Games,” the 21-year-old long jumper said.

Aldrin entered the World Championships final on the back of an 8m jump in the qualification and with the conviction of logging a new personal best effort in the final. The anti-climactic final saw him skidding on the take-off board and messing up his opening jump. The resultant foul – he narrowly escaped a major injury – derailed his plans and rhythm.

“I went into a state of shock after that first jump. My mind stopped working. I felt an impact on the ankle of my take-off leg (left leg) and could never find my rhythm again,” he recalled. Aldrin fouled in his next attempt too and cleared 7.77m on his third attempt. That would be his best effort of the final where he would finish 11th among 12 jumpers.

“It was a very disappointing result but I am not going to brood over it. I felt great in the qualification round, the conditions were good, my mind and body were relaxed, and I entered the final confident of bettering my personal best (8.42m). I decided to attack the board in the final but things didn’t go my way.”

Aldrin believes the lessons learned from the underwhelming outing in Budapest will hold him in good stead at the upcoming Asian Games. It will be his first Asiad and theoretically, Aldrin will start the event as one of the favourites. India have had only two podium finishes in the 18 editions of men’s long jump at the Asian Games with TC Yohannan and Suresh Babu claiming gold medals in 1974 and 1978. Forty-five years have gone past without an Indian man making it to the top three.

“Yes, it has been a while since we have won a medal at the Asian Games and I would like to end that drought in Hangzhou. If I am able to give my best, I think I will come home with a medal. It would be fantastic if Sreeshankar joins me at the podium too,” he said.

It’s easier said than done though. The Indian duo will face stiff competition from local favourite Wang Jianan who won the World Championships last year and is also the defending Asian Games champion. “We don’t expect any easy outings. The level of competition was very high at the World Championships and I expect nothing less at the Asian Games,” he said.

While Aldrin holds the national record – he jumped 8.42m at the Indian Open Throws Competition in Bellary earlier this year – he is yet to translate his success on foreign soil. An 8.06m jump in Cuba showed early promise but two sub-8m meets in Greece were a dampener.

“I was just recovering from Covid then and my body was still feeling weak. I also had a groin strain this year that affected some performances. But I understand my jumps abroad have not been great. I am in my second year at the senior level so I can’t say I don’t have the experience. I think the reason why Indian jumpers struggle overseas is purely down to the level of competition,” he reasoned.

“While in India, an 8m jump will guarantee a top-two finish, the same jump overseas may not be enough to make the final. Even at the Worlds, despite jumping a reasonable 8m, I barely managed to reach the final.”

“There are a few technical areas that I need to perfect, but all those tweaks will have to wait till next season. We are too close to the Asian Games to make any major changes but having learned my lesson in Budapest, I will be much better prepared for unforeseen situations in China. At the elite level, it is the mentality that counts more than technical perfection,” he said.

Aldrin, who trains at the IIS facility in Bellary, will have his friend and fellow IIS athlete Sreeshankar for company at the Asian Games. The latter finished sixth (7.95m) in Jakarta in 2018 and Aldrin hopes to feed off Sreeshankar’s experience. “We like to exchange training notes. We also discuss how foreign long jumpers are doing, who should we look out for, and so on. I’d say we complement each other a lot. We are comfortable enough to approach each others’ coaches for advice too, if needed,” he said