Asian Games athletics medallists Dharun Ayyasamy, Arokia Rajiv shift focus towards improving timings

Chennai: Ace 400 metres hurdler Dharun Ayyasamy on Friday said his focus was on improving his timings and winning a medal at next year’s Asian Championships.

The athlete, who hails from Tirupur in the state, won a silver medal in the recently-concluded Jakarta Asian Games.

“I am looking forward to improving my timings now. Making it to the final at the Olympics in itself would be great. As one keeps bettering his timings, medal chances obviously increase,” Ayyasamy said.

He was speaking at a felicitation function organised by the Tamil Nadu Athletic Association in Chennai.

Ayyasamy, who won a silver in 400m hurdles and a silver in 4x400m relay, was felicitated along with Arokia Rajiv, who claimed silver in the 4x400m relay and the mixed team relay.

Ayyasamy had clocked 48.96 seconds in Jakarta.

He said he had improved a lot after training with another athlete Santosh Kumar Tamilarasan.

“I have improved a lot after training with him. He has been my partner for the past one year. We used to have mini battles between ourselves even during practice sessions,” he added.

The ace hurdler said athletes prefer to train in Europe because of the technology available and climate.

“I still cant believe that I was able to cross the finish line with that timing. I was expecting to finish around 49.1 or 49.2 seconds. But, I don’t know how I made it quicker,” he said.

He said a camp would be organised at Patiala next month and the focus would be on the Asian Championship and World Championships.

Twenty-six-year-old Rajiv, who hails from Lalgudi near Tiruchirapalli, said his immediate focus was to improve his timings next year.