Champion athletes have the special ability to bounce back quickly and learn from their mistakes. Jinson Johnson did just that at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Thursday. Two nights after he was shocked by teammate Manjit Singh in the 800m final, Jinson produced a fine run to take home the 1,500m gold at the Asian Games.
The 27-year-old from Chakkittapara in Kozhikode was widely tipped to return with a double as he has been in the form of his life in the past few months. He broke Bahadur Prasad's 1,500m national record at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, where he finished fifth. And then in June, Jinson shattered the legendary Sriram Singh’s 800m mark – the oldest standing national record in Indian athletics – at the senior nationals in Guwahati. But on Tuesday, the unheralded Manjt ran the race of his life to push Jinson to second spot. Manjit ran a tactical race and outwitted Jinson with his sprint towards the finish line.
Jinson told media that he was happy he could win a silver and that it was a 1-2 for India made him glad. He also said he was not worried that he could clock only 1:46.35 min as opposed to his best of 1:45.65 min.
But deep down Jinson would have been hurt that he could not quite deliver on the big stage.
The gold had eluded him again. He had won silver in 800m at the 2015 Asian Championships and a bronze in the same event at the last Asian Championships at Bhubaneswar last year.
There were question marks as to how the shock defeat will affect Jinson in the 1,500m race. He had very little time to recover in the hot and humid conditions of the Indonesian capital.
It was a test of character and the Army man came through with flying colours. He had learnt his lesson and played his card smart. He did not push himself in Wednesday's heats and qualified for the final by finishing second behind Qatar’s Mohammed Tiouali.
And on the big night he was ready. This time he had preserved his energy and his sprint in the final 80m left his rivals Amir Moradi of Iran and Tiouali behind, while Manjit could not whip up any late magic and ended up fourth.
Now with the Asian Games gold in his kitty, Jinson can dream of bigger goals.
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