The Girls Athletics team has been preparing for BOSM since the summer break, and with less than a week left, the training has only become more challenging. The individual events during BOSM include the field events – shot put, discus throw, javelin throw, triple jump, and the track events – 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, and the relay races.

As BOSM approaches, morning practices are held in addition to the evening sessions. There are also weights and gym sessions about thrice a week to support the track workouts. The team gets only one day off per week. Strict diet control is also an important part of the athletes’ preparation. ‘In my opinion, preparation for athletics is pure pain on most days, as compared to other sports where you go into practice with some excitement. There is also zero unpredictability, as we know exactly how much we are going to run on each day,’ said Anushka Pathak, the team captain.

The team participates in BOSM and other outstation tournaments that the Sports Council arranges for. In the previous edition of BOSM,  the team failed to get any medals in short distance and field events since competition was tough. However, they managed to grab most of the long-distance medals. The team also got two medals in outstation tournaments. Anushka won the gold in 1500m and the bronze in 800m in IIT Roorkee. The athletes also have individual plans to go to tournaments in the next semester.

Anushka was always a sportsperson and had played basketball in school. ‘I picked up athletics on campus since it isn’t a team sport and I could practice whenever I had the time to. It was easier to manage athletics along with club and department work. I like to think of myself as a busy person,’ she said. However, sources have revealed that Anushka spends half her day sleeping and the other half complaining.

‘I wasn’t on campus for about 20 days during the peak training period. Girls and guys team are pretty close, and they practice together, so the boys team captain plus other girls’ seniors took over in my absence,’ she replied when asked about her experience as a captain. She also stated that the captaincy hadn’t affected her academics—they were suffering anyway.

The team has two athletes each from first year, second year, and third year, and one from fourth year. When asked about which team members are most likely to win medals this BOSM, Anushka replied that while the whole team is in good shape, winning medals depends on the competition. ‘We have a really good second-year short-distance runner named Sindhu. For long distance, we have a first year named Neha. They’ll get medals for sure. If I run in long distance events, I stand a good chance too. But I won’t, because it’s too much effort,’ she added with a yawn.

Her favorite athletes are Hima Das and Eliud Kipchoge. ‘I followed Kipchoge’s Breaking2 attempt pretty closely,’ she said, referring to Nike’s project to break the two-hour barrier for a marathon. ‘It’s impressive that he managed to finish it in 2 hours and 5 seconds. It usually takes me longer to get myself to step out of bed.’

Anushka also added that everyone including the team, the Sports Council and the CoSSAc has been cooperative and helpful, and that she is looking forward to watching the fest from the stands.