Sprinter Tamilarasu makes a mark with friend-turned-coach by his side

After he clocked 10.62 seconds at the Indian Open in Chennai in April, his coach had written him off for individual events and had instructed him to focus solely on making the cut for India’s 4×100 relay team. But Tamilarasu didn’t pay heed to this advice. Instead he found a coach in his best friend K Gowtham, also an athlete. As Tamilarasu romped home at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Gowtham was elated.

Tamilarasu and Gowtham have formed a strong bond based on the need to succeed.

Running was not even Tamilarasu’s first love, who was born in a family which grows bananas and has coconut plantations. Despite winning medals in 100 metres in school and district-level zonal meets, like many boys in rural Tamil Nadu, volleyball was his first love. It is what fetched him an under-graduate seat in a top institute through a sports quota.

“In the first year of college, our physical education teacher, who had seen me at the zonal events, told me to take up running. But I wasn’t initially willing because even now I love playing volleyball. But because I am short, I wasn’t getting enough game time, so eventually I became a sprinter. From there on, once I started breaking records in Khelo India (college) games and University Games, I got the confidence that I could go all the way,” Tamilarasu tells The Indian Express.

It was at this point in time that Tamilarasu turned to Gowtham, who was competing with him in district meets in Coimbatore. Hailing from Ettimadai, a small village near the Kerala border, Gowtham was a sprinter who also tried his luck in long jump. Though both were in different schools and zones, a friendship developed at district meets, where invariably the two would run into each other. “We both were competitors, both represented our respective government schools. But once I picked up the injury, my options were limited. My parents couldn’t afford money for treatment. So I was freelancing as a nutritionist for a few local athletes and after Tamilarasu fell out with his coach, he asked me if I could train him. Even though I’d no formal coaching experience, I couldn’t say no to him because after all he is my friend,” Gowtham says.

Tamilarasu’s trust wasn’t without reason. He had seen him offer sound advice. Gowtham enrolled for a coaching degree. “I didn’t want anyone to discount Tamilarasu saying he is trained by an amateur. I’ve always had an interest in fully understanding whatever I do. So even when I was competing, I used to visit the library often to read up on the bio-mechanics part and stuff. So when I started as a coach with Tamilarasu, I thought I can also make a career out of this. I have a US track and field certificate now. Next up I’ve to get a Level-I certificate in India,” Gowtham added.

With Tamilarasu now working at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Gowtham moved cities to coach his friend. Over the last four months, their routine is constant – wake up at 5am, train till 7.30 am and head to work and then train again in the evening.

In this time, Tamilarasu has improved his personal best twice. “When they told me I can’t win individual races, I was more motivated than ever before. I worked doubly hard. Though Gowtham isn’t an experienced coach, it was him who made me understand the importance of recovery and how to keep being consistent. If you are not consistently clocking a speed, then it is impossible to bring it down. It is where Gowtham has been of huge help,” Tamilarasu said.

On Wednesday evening at JLN Stadium, Gowtham had to step in at the last minute to offer some valuable advice. The event was scheduled to begin at 7.30PM and Tamilarasu had finished with his warm-ups before the event was pushed back to 7.50 PM. “Once you are done with the warm-up runs, the body starts to warm down. It was a bit cold as well because of the rain and a strong breeze. That’s the reason I told him to jog and loft a few weights. I made him wait in a warm place before the race started,” Gowtham said.

Every time Tamilarasu takes the track, he is living not just his dream but that of Gowtham too. “I also had big dreams. But it didn’t materialise. Now, I want Tamilarasu to get whatever I didn’t get. He shouldn’t make the same mistakes that I did. We may be friends, but I’m also his first critic,” Gowtham says.