Last October, Odisha’s Pratik Maharana registered a record-breaking 21.24s to grab the victory in the 200m at the National Junior Athletics meet in Bhubaneswar and make the cut for the U20 World Athletics Championships to be held in Lima in August later this year.However, he is not done yet and is looking to run even faster at the National Junior Athletics Federation meet set to take place at Tumkur, Karnataka, next week which will act as the final trial for the Worlds.“I am confident of going under 21 seconds,” said Maharana during an interaction with TOI before travelling to the tournament. “This year, I have already competed in the indoor nationals in Bhubaneswar and the Indian Athletics Series 4 in Ranchi.
Now I just want to make it to the Worlds.”A big fan of former national record holder Amiya Kumar Mallick, Maharana, however, didn’t have it easy in the beginning.“I first spotted him in 2017 in Bargarh. He was about 9-10 years old then and after discussing with his father, I brought him to Bhubaneswar to train,” said his long-time coach Siba Prasad Mishra.However, first due to lack of support from his family and later because of the pandemic, his training was cut short and he was back in Bargarh.
“Then one day during the pandemic in 2021, I was out for a morning walk when I saw him delivering food on his bicycle. His mother and others would cook, and he would deliver it to underprivileged people in return for a paltry amount of money,” added Mishra, who has also coached Dutee Chand.It was then that Mishra took him under his wing, and there has been no looking back for Maharana. He initially resumed training in Bargarh, along with 12 other trainees, where Mishra also set up a gym.“Later in 2024 we shifted to Rourkela and began training at the Birsa Munda Athletic Stadium there after the govt appointed me under the Athletics Project Odisha,” the coach added.It proved to be just what Maharana needed, as he had a breakout season that year, winning 200m gold at the National Youth Athletics Championship in Bilaspur with a time of 21.65s. After impressing at the South Asian U20 Athletics Championships, he finished the year on a high with another 200m gold at the National Junior Athletics Championships, where he clocked 21.28s.Now, his sole focus is on making it to the U20 Worlds, and for that, his coach has chalked out a clear plan.“We have been working on improving his technique. Next comes competitions, where his temperament and mentality need to improve. The final phase will be reducing workload and focusing on recovery,” said the coach.For now, however, his immediate task is to perform well at the Junior Athletics Federation meet, which will also serve as qualification for the Asian U20 Athletics Championships to be held in Hong Kong from May 28 to 31.
