KOCHI: It is not often you see sprinters wearing power glasses. No wonder many coaches were left a little bemused when they were told that a bespectacled boy wearing a Kasaragod team jersey, walking alongside the synthetic track of Maharaja’s College Stadium, holding his brother’s hand on Wednesday evening, was a sprinter.
Two days later, the same boy, wearing those thickly framed glasses, proved that looks can be deceptive by storming to a gold medal in the sub-junior boys’ 100m final. The boy was Niyas Ahmad of Govt HSS Angadimoger in Kasaragod district, who clocked 12.40 seconds to grab gold.
“There were tiny drops of water on my specs due to rain, and I was not able to see the track properly. I gave my run full throttle," said an elated standard IX student.
Niyas’ father, Abdul Hameed, was proud of his son’s success as he was running for the first time with spikes in a championship, which were gifted to him by a Gulf returnee. "He is short-sighted but highly talented. I knew he played football well, but didn't realise he could run so fast," said Abdul.
His achievement is magnified when his dad reveals that Niyas received very little training before the state schools’ meet. “After he qualified for the state meet, the school authorities asked us to attend a training camp. At that camp, we were introduced to one Rajan Sir, an athletic coach in Nileswar, who gave basic training tips to Niyas. Travelling to Nileswar, which is 50 km away from our place, was not an option for us due to the lack of finances. So he could train only for three days," said Hameed.
