Abhishek Mathew was in Standard III when he attended a selection trials ahead of a sports meet at the Sacred Heart UP School, Angadikadavu, near Iritty in Kannur.
Babu, a teacher at the school, spotted the boy's talent there and Abhishek started taking part in competitions just for the heck of it. Eight years later, the boy has blossomed into a fine young athlete who won three gold medals in junior boys' section at the Kerala State Schools Athletics meet which concluded in Pala.
The 16-year-old 10th standard student of Mar Basil Higher Secondary School, Kothamangalam, broke the national record in 800 meter, bettered the meet record in 400 meter besides cornering glory in 1,500m. Abhishek is also the reigning Asian youth champion in 800 meters.
It has been a fight against odds for the elder son of a mason from a remote village in Kannur to being a star in the state's champion sports school. Though his home is close to that of former Asian 800 meter champion Tintu Luka's, athletics was not something which he was very keen on in his early days.
“Babu sir told me to attend practice sessions ahead of the sub-district event when I was in class three. I won the first prize in both 100m and 200m, and that was the start of it,” Abhishek told Onmanorama over the phone from Kothamangalam.
“Those days there were no regular practice sessions as such. We used to get ready only one month before a meet. Our school did not have a physical education teacher as such. However, there were quite a few teachers who were interested in sports and they used to guide us.”
Big break
The big break for Abhishek came when he attended a selection trials at Mar Basil School in March, 2014. “My exams were over and then I came to know of the trials. I took part in 100m and 200m events. I was told that the selected ones will be informed in due time. However, there was no intimation from the school and I thought it was over. One day my mother called up the school and then she was told that I was picked. The school authorities had lost our phone number and hence could not contact us.”
Joining Mar Bail was the best thing to has happened to him.
“Here, everything is organized. There are enough physical education teachers and the diet is really good. The coaches make you understand your body well and utmost care is taken about workouts as such.”
On joining Mar Basil, Abhishek switched to the 600m race and won gold in the sub-junior state meet in 2014 and finished ninth in the national junior meet in Vijayawada.
He went on to win gold in 400m and 600m races in the 2014 state school meet held in Thiruvananthapuram. Abhishek has since then made rapid strides and bagged the 800m gold in the National School Meet in Kozhikode in 2016.
Coach's take
“Abhishek's great strengths are his physique and speed. He is good in sprint and middle distance runs,” says Shibi Mathew, his coach at Mar Basil.
“Here the school management makes it a point to provide the best of facilities to the athletes. The coaches closely monitor their trainees, the diet here is equivalent to that is being served in SAI schools, besides we have got a dedicated team of Ayurveda doctors to take care of the athletes,” says Shibi.
Abhishek won the 800m gold medal in the second Asian Youth Athletics Championship in Bangkok with a then personal best of 1:54.99. He bettered it to 1:52.88 at the meet in Pala.
“My immediate goal is to win medals in Asian junior (U-20 meet) and World Junior Championships next year. I also want to win a medal for Kerala in the next National Games to be held in Goa,” says the youngster.
Abhishek, whose pet event is 800 meters, has one big dream and that is to win an Olympic medal. That goal is far away, but the teenager has always chased dreams and raised the bar.
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