New Delhi, India, September 6, 2020: The Indian Sports Ministry has extended the contracts of nine foreign athletics coaches and support personnel, including the High Performance Director, with an eye on the 2022 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games and the 2024 Olympics.
The decision was taken by the ministry to ensure Olympic-bound athletes are able to train consistently with one coach and work on improving their performance. German Volker Herrmann is the Athletics Federation of India’s High Performance Director.
India’s Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said the move would benefit the athletes tremendously.
“This decision to extend the contracts of the coaches will benefit our athletes as there will be continuation of their training with the same coach,” Rijiju pointed out.
“There is a well-defined roadmap ahead of our athletes as we eye the best of preparations for 2024 and 2028. Coaches play the most vital part in moulding our athletes to reach the elite level and this also improves India’s chances in various major international events going ahead,” Rijiju added.
Indian athletics legend and World Championship medallist Anju Bobby George welcomed this move.
“This will benefit athletes in a big way. In athletics, more than in other disciplines, techniques and continuous training are very important. With foreign coaches especially communication is often an issue, and only if a coach trains an athlete long enough can they understand each other well and the athlete can draw out the best from the training,” George said.
The performances of the coaches and support staff will be reviewed annually, with the results of athletes in major international events being the main indicator.
Source: Times of India