Nur qualifies for Asian Championships with second-best timing Indian

When Nur Mohammed Hasan began training for athletics, his sole goal was to get a job in the armed forces. The 3000m steeplechaser admits he was never passionate about athletics nor did he harbour any big dreams. But it all changed when he bagged his first junior medal at 16.
“I saw boys in my village training for the army, so I just joined. My intention initially was just to bag a steady job to support my family but when I started seeing results, it changed my outlook and I became very serious about athletics,” Nur said.
On Tuesday at the Ranchi Federation Cup, the Uttar Pradesh athlete regered the best performance of his career so far, clocking 8:30.56s – almost 10 seconds better than the Asian Championship qualification mark set the Athletics Federation of India.
The wiry 21-year-old’s Fed Cup timing also lifted him to the second spot in India’s all-time l behind Avinash Sable, who is currently training in the US. Although Nur won the gold with a new personal best, he was a tad bit disappointed in not clocking a better timing.
Nur comes from a farmer family in Mau drict, where his family is also involved in local horse racing. He was barely 10 when he was handed over the reins of his first foal. “I was always lean and when you get a young horse, only light- weighted people are used for training them initially. I still remember the first time I sat on one and leapt into the air,” he recalls.
From horses to hurdles
Even before he took up athletics at 14, Nur was travelling around North India competing with his family’s horse for prize money. “I am still very good at it,” he said. Although he initially took up long-dance running, his sports hostel coach suggested he try out steeplechase – a sport named after a horse racing event.

“I was really scared initially. Hurdles fall if you hit them but in steeplechase, if you hit the barrier, you can break your bones. The first few times I fell down and even hurt myself,” he says while pointing to a scar on his left thigh.
One of the major complaints that Sable had while training in India was the lack of quality competitors to push him. Although still quite a dance from the ever-improving Sable, the standards of the domestic steeplechase can improve if Nur cuts down his timings in the coming years. “I first competed against Sable in 2018 as a junior athlete and saw how good he was. I want to clock timings like him,” he says.

An air force job, which he earned through his sporting achievements, has lifted a lot of burden off Nur’s shoulders. He still remembers the time when he had to travel in unreserved railway coaches, sometimes standing for hours, to compete in junior-level competitions.
“Today, I will travel back flight but there was a time I could not even afford a ticket in the reserved compartment. Coaches would ask me why my legs were swollen before the competition. They had no idea that I had to sometimes stand for over six hours in a crowded train to reach the competition venue,” he said.
Ramesh runs sub-46
A day after outwitting seasoned runners like Asian Games medalls Arokia Rajiv and Mohammed Anas in the heats, quarter-miler Rajesh Ramesh ran a career best of 45.75s to win the gold a slender margin as Mohammed Ajmal finished second with 45.85s on the clock.
The 24-year-old Ramesh, who worked as a full-time ticket checker in Trichy in 2020, was surprised his timing. “I knew I would do well but didn’t expect to run in the 45.75 range. I thought I would get something closer to 45.90s,” he said after the race.

There was a lot of drama off the field on the second day of the Fed Cup. Aishwarya Kailash Mishra had initially won the gold in the 400m race with 52.57s but second-finisher Priya Mohan raised an appeal for lane infringement which was, after thorough inspection, upheld. Mishra was disqualified and Priya upgraded to gold with 53.40s.
In the men’s 100m, there was some commotion after the photo finish machine initially failed to record the timings in a close finish. Amiya Kumar Mallick, who clocked 10.31s, was adjudged the winner after almost an hour.