A high bar to clear: Harshith Shashidhar balances studies with sport
Till a week back Harshith Shashidhar had buried himself in books. The 21-year-old high jumper was burning midnight oil for nearly a month because his third-year engineering examinations were around the corner. With only two more semesters left to complete his degree in civil engineering, Harshith didn’t want to neglect studies.
When he participated in the final of the men’s high jump at the 55th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Chennai, Harshith was doing so on the back of only seven days of training.
Harshith, the junior national record holder in the event, had won gold at the previous two senior meets — the Open Nationals and the Federation Cup — and had a reputation to defend.
Punjab’s Jagdeep Singh, a year older than Harshith, was proving to be a tough competitor but when the bar was raised to 2.16 metres the Karnataka boy won gold as he cleared the height at the first attempt.
The lack of preparation for this particular event and a stomach bug, which had left him drained, threatened to affect the youngster’s chances on the day of the final. His over the top celebrations on winning the gold was a release of pressure that had built up.
“I was under pressure because I was not sure in what condition I was in as I had hardly trained before the event. My third-year-engineering exams got over only on July 6. For a month before that I had stopped training and was completely focused on studying for the examinations,” Harshith said.
No full-time coach
Currently the jumper is without a full-time coach though for advice he leans on his mentor Krishnamurty of the Bangalore Sports Club, the coach who spotted his talent when he was studying at the Vidyaniketan School in Hebbal.
On Sunday Harshith was turning to his uncle Arun Kumar and father Shashidhar, who were seated in the stands near the high-jump arena at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, for motivation and tips as the battle for the gold turned intense.
“Neither of us is a qualified coach but we have picked up techniques and methods of high jump by reading online and from interacting with Harshith’s previous coaches,” Shashidhar says.
They also fall back on the techniques of Nikitin Levgen, the Ukrainian jumps coach who trained Harshith at one point, after he made a mark at the junior level.
“Now he has a break before he needs to appear for his next set of exams. Over the next six months our plan is to focus completely on training and competition. It is a crucial period for him and we hope that he will be able to be in peak form by the time of the Open Nationals in September. The aim is to qualify for the Olympics (2.29m).
We know that it is tough but we are keen on ensuring that Harshith fulfils his potential,” Shashidhar, who is a mechanical engineer, adds.
Hailing from a family of engineers, doctors and scientists, Shahshidhar and his wife Anuradha, are keen that the first athlete in the family is given wings to fly. “We don’t mind even if he has to miss a semester because of his athletics,” Shashidhar says.
Harshith is hoping that Sunday’s medal is a stepping stone to greater success. “I won three gold medals at senior national competitions but missed out during the national games. It was a disappointment but I want to make up for it over the next six months.”
Day 2 highlights:
Men 20k walk: 1. Devender Singh (Har) 1:26:04.40, 2. Ganapathy (TN) 1:27:06.40, 3. Babubhai Panocha (Guj) 1:28:00.30; High Jump: 1. Harshith S (Kar) 2.16m, 2. Jagdeep Singh (Pun) 2.16m, 3. Ajay Kumar (Har) 2.09m; Discus Throw: 1. Arjun (Har) 57.14m, 2. Dharmraj Yadav (UP) 56.15m, 3. Kirpal Singh (Pun) 53.83; Steeplechase: 1 Naveen (Har) 8:47.47, 2. Jaiveer (Har) 8:48.23, 3. Sachin Patil (Mah) 8:52.61; Men’s 4×100: 1. Tamilnadu 40.83, 2. Kerala 40.89, 3. Haryana 41.08.
Women pole vault: 1. Kiranbir Kaur (Pun) 3.50m, 2. Dija K.C. (Mah) 3.40m, 3. Krishna Rachan (Ker) 3.40m
