Rehabilitated shot-putter Om Prakash targets Rio Olympics

India's national record holder in shot put, the 28-year-old Om Prakash Karhana has seen both highs and lows as an athlete in his decade-long competitive career. From the highs of winning an Asian title in 2009 and breaking the national record in 2012, he has lived the lows of three years in oblivion due to injuries.

But now after regaining full fitness, the 6 ft 7 inch shot-putter is ready to work towards 2016 Rio Olympics qualification in the next few months. His first stop is the National Open Championships in Kolkata, scheduled for September 16-19.

In an exclusive interview with TOI Sports, Om Prakash shares his journey to regain fitness, the Rio Olympics, his career among various topics related to Indian sports, particularly athletics and shot put. Excerpts:

Road to full fitness

I am fully fit now, though it will take some time for me to get match fitness. I twisted my ankle just before the Asian Games last year and spent the whole year (2015) regaining fitness. Physically I am fully fit and feeling much better now. I am training in Himachal Pradesh right now and will leave for Kolkata in a couple of days to participate in the national championships. Kolkata meet will offer me an opportunity to test myself.

Injury is accompanying me for a while. First I got injured around the 2012 London Olympics, then in 2013 a foot injury wrecked my growth and in 2014 the ankle thing happened. Injuries have stopped me from hitting my peak at the biggest stages like CWG, Asiad etc.

Target: Rio

Frankly speaking, I am not in the government's main scheme right now. So I am doing all my preparations on my own. But I have been in the sport for almost 10 years, so with full fitness I will achieve it easily. There are plenty of events left to qualify for Rio, as we can achieve the qualification mark until 15 days before the event. Hopefully I will qualify for it soon.

Qualification is not tough. The only thing is, we get only two chances to qualify for the Games in India, so we have to remain fit for the two events. It's difficult to qualify in India because of scheduling too; for example the shot put event in nationals is at 2pm in a place like Kolkata where the climate is hot and humid. It gets tougher because of it, but we have to adjust and perform. There are no alternatives.

I have enough experience by now and qualification will happened for sure. The qualification mark of 20.50m is well below my personal best and national record of 20.69m. And I am confident that with my experience I will do good for the country.



Indian athletes are late bloomers

We Indians peak at around the age of 28-30, especially in physical games like shot put. For example, look at Vikas Gowda (Discus Throw) who is performing at the world standard only after reaching the age of 30.

Genetics also play a role in athletics. First the whole world participates in athletics and second it is an open competition unlike some sports which has different weight categories. We need more time to reach the peak in this sport, as we accumulate strength over time. What I want to say is that for an Indian to reach his peak in athletics, they need at least ten years of training.

We also lack sports culture. Our parents are basically from villages and they want a secured future for their children. They emphasise on studies, so we started working on physical fitness late. Outside they start their physical training quite early even during primary schools.

Competitors getting younger

Recently in the world championships, most of the top finishers were in their mid-twenties, mainly because of the early initiation of their training. For example the silver-medallist in Beijing is a 25-year-old David Storl of Germany who has won the youth title, junior title and senior title which means he has been training for long.

I have been to Hungary and USA and seen that they start training for physical sports as early as 13. They do have some advantage in physical build-up too, we have to accept that. Since they started early, they are able to give results at the age of 22-23. Although it is a recent phenomenon worldwide too, otherwise earlier most of the shot putters performed at their peak at around 30 only.

I also started giving results early, otherwise for a shot putter it requires at least 10 years of competitions to get into his best, because it is strength-base game. And we can only develop strength over the years.

Early qualification good for Inderjeet

Inderjeet Singh represented India in the youth worlds when I started competing in 2005, which means he must have been training for at least two or three years before that. He did not perform then, but after competing for more than 10 years he has now started giving good results - throwing above 20m regularly.

He too took his time but has qualified for Rio in the first competition itself with a throw of 20.65m, his personal best. Early qualification releases pressure and give time to work on improvements.

Journey so far

I started in 2005, and achieved 20m soon in 2008. I used to play basketball and luckily it helped in my shot put performances too.

Since I started giving early results without much hindrance physically, I think I am filling up my quota of injuries right now. I was immature at the time when I became the Asian champion in 2009, and when I broke the national record in 2012.

I was not mature enough and did more training than required due to enthusiasm, which resulted in injuries. Physical issues do happened and athletes have to cope with it. Now I am feeling more responsibility upon myself and to my sport.

I realised that I am getting nearer the world level, but am getting hampered by some injury or other before I can give my best. In January 2014, I achieved 21m in training then foot injury happened which took almost eight months to heal. I couldn't run, jump or work on fitness and was throwing four or five times only after that. Also in 2012, I was very fit and was throwing 21-22m in training after breaking the national record but again elbow injury happened.

Future plan

I am fully dedicated to sport and want to keep contributing. To succeed at the world level, we have to throw around 22m at least. It is not very difficult, and with dedication I can achieve it as it is within my range. It will require some luck and getting into training regime without injury, it is achievable.

I am planning to compete till 2028 Olympics, and with time I will achieve something good. I will always try to bring Indian athletics to new level.

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