Antony Yaich making ready India’s subsequent crop of track-and-field contenders

This month alone, track-and-field coach Antony Yaich has seen 5 of his wards break junior nationwide marks. The newest entrant into the document books has been 19-year-old lengthy jumper Jeswin Aldrin who leapt 7.97m to erase Kumaravel Premkumar’s U-20 mark of seven.94m on the South Zone Nationals in Kozhikode on Friday.
But regardless of the current bounty, Frenchman Yaich, head of track-and-field at JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS), isn’t glad as he has set his sights on larger and long-term targets.
The laborious taskmaster was, in truth, infuriated with Aldrin’s record-breaking try as a result of he felt technical flaws “cost him a jump in excess of 8 metres”.
“He left his left leg dangling and that touched the sand behind while landing. An 8.15m jump is different from a 7.97m jump. It was a stupid and lazy mistake,” stated Yaich, who has been coaching Aldrin for the final two years.
The Trichy-born athlete was roped in by Yaich, regardless of not having a terrific document as a jumper, primarily for his elasticity. “It is one of the most essential qualities to become a top-level athlete. A lot of people are mistaken that strength alone is enough,” defined the Frenchman, who has a PhD in Statistics and Econometrics from the University of Cergy-Pontoise in his native nation.
At the junior nationals held in Guwahati earlier this month, his wards bagged 9 medals, together with seven gold. Four nationwide marks have been additionally erased within the course of: Unnathi Aiyappa (U -16, 80m hurdles and 300m hurdles), Pavana Nagraj (U-16, High Jump) and Yashwanth Kumar (U-20, 110m Hurdles) rewrote the nationwide data.
“Well, it is only the beginning and I am not satisfied. There is no secret but hard work. I am a perfectionist and won’t be happy until the right technique is attainted,” stated Yaich.

Federation Cup Champion Praveen Chithravel and coach Antony Yaich have reached Doha forward of the Asian Athletics Championships. Watch this house for extra updates as younger Praveen prepares for his first senior worldwide competitors. @Media_SAI @afiindia pic.twitter.com/4RVzRhIKVL
— Inspire Institute of Sport (@IIS_Vijayanagar) April 19, 2019
Reworking method
When Yaich first noticed Aldrin leap, he wasn’t actually happy along with his hang-technique and wished him to undertake a extra environment friendly technique – hitch-hike method – the place the jumper completes a cyclic kick movement whereas airborne. The latter is a extra broadly used method employed by most elite jumpers throughout the globe. Current senior nationwide record-holder Sreeshankar (8.20m) credit his swap from the dangle to hitch-hike technique for the added zing to his jumps.
“It is the fifth competition that he has tried this new technique and that is why there are so many errors. He will probably need 10 more jumps before he gets it right. My target for Aldrin is Paris 2024 and if he does qualify for Tokyo that will be a bonus,” the coach stated.
Yaich just isn’t solely a strict coach but additionally very protecting of his younger wards. He has a strict no-mobile-phone-on- the-ground coverage and doesn’t encourage interplay with the media. “Aldrin is 19 but still a baby. I know what happens when some kids see their pictures and nice pieces about them in the newspapers. They think they have arrived and become complacent. I am just protecting my kids,” he stated.
Yaich believes breaking a junior document is insignificant if the kids don’t transition into world-class senior athletes. Yaich, who has mentored a number of Olympians, has seen many promising children fade away.
“One of my former athletes (Heather Arneton) was a junior world record-holder. She held the U-15 long jump world record (6.57m). But now she is not performing well. There are many who have broken such junior marks and have perished. A junior national mark is not a huge thing,” stated Yaich.
So fairly naturally, there have been no celebrations on Aldrin’s little feat. The Frenchman says he will probably be happy solely after seeing his wards take the rostrum on the most important stage on the globe, however is aware of it’s an uphill process. He additionally feels the Indians must keep away from getting overwhelmed by foreigners at occasions. “I think the Indians are a little too nice. The moment they see an athlete with an international jersey, they assume that the athlete would be better. But Indians are no less. Their discipline and dedication are second to none,” he stated.