Fasalul and his love for overcoming hurdles

A false start, a steady drizzle coupled with a mild breeze and cool conditions. And if that wasn’t enough, Keralam’s C.K. Fasalul Haque fell behind midway through the race before recovering to claim gold in the under-20 men’s 110m hurdles at the 41st National junior athletics championships at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.

The clock read 13.70 seconds, but it wasn’t quite the timing he had hoped for.

Fasalul knows what it takes to set a record, having clocked 13.61s in Pune in June to establish a new national under-20 mark. And despite winning gold, there was a hint of disappointment, for he had come hoping to better his own record.

“I was expecting to clock 13.40. I got a good lead, but in between, I hit a hurdle. I don’t know what happened after that,” Fasalul told The Hindu.

The weather, too, had a bearing on his performance.

“In Pune, the conditions were nice. I had a good warm-up and my body was warm. Today, I was feeling cold and couldn’t warm up properly,” said the 18-year-old.

Hailing from Malappuram, Fasalul took up athletics at the age of 15, starting with the 100m before his first coach encouraged him to try his hand at hurdles.

The transition to the higher hurdles in the u-20 category initially proved challenging, but Fasalul said he became comfortable with the height after a couple of months.

Unlike the 100m, where a poor start can prove costly, Fasalul believes the hurdles offer him an opportunity to recover lost ground.

“I don’t usually get good starts. I start pushing after the fifth or sixth hurdle. Even today, I was behind around 50 to 60 metres, but I managed to come back”, he said.

For now, the youngster has his sights set on another mark, this time at the senior level.

“I want to run below 13 seconds at the senior level and become the first Indian to do it. I’m 100 per cent sure I can”, he said.