With hurdles bronze, Shourya underlines her potential

bombay: Shourya Ambure took a scrap of a put on the line to feature a crack at competing in the ongoing Asian U-18 Athletics Championships. For starters, the hurdler gave two Class 10 papers a miss to turn up at last month’s National Youth Championships in Patna, which doubled up as a selection meet for the Asian event. Plus, the 100m hurdles event was still a bit alien for the 15-year-old heading to Saudi Arabia for her first international competition.

“She is transitioning from U-16s to U-18s, going from 80m to 100m hurdles,” said her coach Ajit Kulkarni. “To get into the rhythm for 100m, you need to train well and compete on a regular basis. She ran just two races before going for this competition.”

And yet, Shourya will return with a bronze medal from the Asian age-group meet, clocking a personal best timing of 13.80s to finish behind China’s Bao Yinyin (13.71) and He Yihui (13.76).

“It feels surreal. This was my first international meet, and to come back with a PB and a medal is such a proud moment,” Shourya said from Dammam.

In Patna last month in her first 100m hurdles appearance, she had clocked 14.55s. In the intervening four weeks, the teen not only trained for the Asian Championships but also caught up with her Board exams.

“We trained for a timing between 13.70-13.85, which is a massive improvement,” Kulkarni said.

That improvement is even more creditable given the challenges the youngster has to face to merely be able to train. Shourya is from Thane, a bustling district outside Mumbai that flaunts fancy high rises but is bereft of a proper synthetic athletics track. The Dadoji Konddev Stadium, which did have a track, now largely hosts cricket matches. Kulkarni runs his academy in a Thane club but the 30m stretch for hurdles comes in handy enough only for some makeshift days.

And so, with no place to go in the vicinity, Shourya and Kulkarni often commute almost 50km to Bandra in suburban Mumbai, or to Ghatkopar, or even 150km to the Balewadi Stadium in Pune, for daily training sessions.

“It’s definitely tough, and takes a lot of discipline and time management,” Shourya said. “The daily commute eats up a lot of time and energy, but when you have a dream, you make it work. Whether it’s travelling to Bandra or even Pune, I always remind myself of why I’m doing this.”

Athletics became part of her life since childhood. As a little girl who was into music, dancing and skating, she was “happiest just running around”. Shourya was enrolled in the academy of Kulkarni, who has coached several athletes from the state, and soon got drawn to hurdles. “It felt like more than running; it was rhythm, technique, challenging and I loved it,” she said.

“She’s been with me for nine years,” Kulkarni said. “She showed good talent from that young age. The way she ran, the approach, the frequency, hand action, etc... All that was natural in her.”

So was an attitude to work hard and the spirit to fight. Kulkarni recalls Shourya’s first hurdles race in a U-14 meet, where she tripped, came last and bruised her knee. The next day she was also supposed to take part in a 100m race. “She ran and came second,” he said.

Much of that dedication and discipline comes from both of Shourya’s parents being in the police force (her father is DCP, Crime and mother is SP, Highway Traffic Thane).

“Watching them work so hard every day has taught me what dedication truly means. Despite their demanding jobs, they’ve always made time for me — be it waking up early for training or travelling for competitions,” said Shourya.

Last year, Shourya was competing (and winning) in inter-school meets in the city. Now, she is a U-18 Asian medallist. “Winning this medal definitely gives me a big confidence boost. It’s a reassurance that I’m on the right path,” she said.

Kulkarni concurs, with a little caveat that this ought to be treated as just a start. “I told her you haven’t broken the (U-18) national or Asian record. You have two years to do that,” he said. “The promise is definitely there.”

Inspired by American 400m hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin, the 15-year-old too has lofty aims. “This season, I want to keep improving my times. In the long term, my dream is to represent India at the Olympics and win a medal,” Shourya said.

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