The American hand: Parul Chaudhary became stronger, faster after stint in USA

Rohit Mahajan in Hangzhou

PARUL Chaudhary’s stunning kick in the final stretch of the 5,000m event was sensational, leaving the woman she edged out with just about 20 metres to go, Ririka Hironaka of Japan, nonplussed.

Parul said when she was down to sixth in the eighth-ninth lap, there was a moment of doubt in her mind — she feared that she could fail to get a medal. “But then I thought that I must fight, and my body responded,” said Parul.

The body responded because Parul has long been training it to respond to such pressure-cooker situations. After winning the medal, she spotted Scott Simmons, the Colorado Springs-based coach, and rushed to hug him.

Simmons, who has been working with Parul for two years, traced the change in Parul’s performance with pride. He was not surprised by Parul’s endurance and the burst of speed she displayed over the last 20 metres.

“She has been training with the boys in Colorado Springs — she had been doing very similar training to the boys’,” said Simmons.

“She’s been with me for two years, and now she’s at a much higher level,” he added. “She finished in the top-20 in the world at a cross-country race in the winter. She’s already at a world-class level.”

Parul clocked 15 minutes, 14.75 seconds for the 5,000m gold; yesterday, she’d taken silver in the 3,000m steeplechase in 9:27.63, appreciably below her personal best of 9:15.31.

Simmons, a hint of coach’s pride in his voice, reeled out the numbers that show how Parul has progressed over two years. “In steeplechase, she’s improved from 9m 40s to 9m 30s to now the national record of 9m 15s,” said Simons. “In 5,000m, she’s certainly faster than 15m 11s, which is her national record. She thinks steeplechase is her primary event.”

The coach was happy that Parul was able to kick off in the final burst. “We have developed speed, we worked hard for that,” he said.

The coach said he admires Parul’s intensity. “Everything is at a high level with her. It is a step above from where it was last year... Her long runs have progressed to 40km, which was not what she was doing earlier. She’s progressed over 10,000m on the tracks, too,” he adds.

Training with Simmons in the US gave Parul the strength of mind and body to fight, which she did on Tuesday night. Despite a tough race the previous night, the coach pointed out, Parul was not fatigued. “She didn’t slow down, the runners who were leading slowed down, and she just stayed with them… She just needed to stay within striking distance,” said Simmons.

Parul believes that the stint in the US has been transformative. “They (government) sent me to USA for training, and I was there for three-four months,” said Parul. “When I picked up speed, I was thinking that I must win gold for India.”

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