How do you make India’s fastest faster? Tear down invisible barriers Premium

Welsh coach James Hillier transforms Indian sprinters into national record holders, aiming to challenge global sprinting dominance.

Usain Bolt. Carl Lewis. Asafa Powell. Maurice Greene. Jim Hines. Over the years, the world’s fastest men, officially, have come from either Jamaica or the USA, with a smattering of outsiders occasionally trying to break into the club.

For the past five years, a Welshman has been trying to convince people that an Indian could, someday, join that league. While India has had success in the middle-distance and the 400m has been the shortest route to recognition, James Hillier is on a mission to prove they can go fast over a shorter distance, too.

“We have always had good sprinters here but it’s been in pockets — so a sprinter would be really good for a couple of years, then another will come and the first one gets injured. Hopefully, we have shown people how we can be consistent. I believe we have brought a level of professionalism and an integrated approach. So the athlete sits in the middle but it’s focused on the coach and the supporting services on the outside,” Hillier, the Athletics Director at Reliance Foundation, tells The Hindu.

Shifting with his family to the Odisha High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar wasn’t easy but Hillier has adapted well and admits his kids, five and three years old, are now as Indian as they come. His other set of ‘kids’ are some of the fastest Indians on the track. Tejas Shirse, Manikanta Hoblidhar, Amlan Borgohain, Jyothi Yarraji, Animesh Kujur — the names making waves today were all either written off or clueless about the future before coming into the Reliance-Hillier fold.

Consider this: Jyothi was mentally and physically broken when she started training with Hillier in 2021. Shirse was an uncertain youngster with little focus and a lot of stubbornness. Animesh, who is monitored by Hillier but primarily trains under athletics head coach Martin Owens, only knew he wanted to run fast but had no idea how to go about it. Amlan was simply a talented lad. No one knew Hoblidhar six months ago. Today, they hold the national records in 100m, 100 and 110m hurdles, and 200m, all set in the last 18-24 months.

Then there is the next batch of exciting talent — Moumita Mondal and Pragyan Sahu pushing Jyothi in the 100m hurdles. Graceson Jeeva competing with Shirse. Bapi Hansda in the 400m hurdles and 17-year old Mohd. Reyan Basha in the 100m, among several others. With the Athletics Federation of India planning to decentralise training after Paris, it is only expected to get better.

“It is a team project,” says Hillier. “If we look at women’s hurdles, when I first got here people said ‘Oh, it’s not possible to break the 13-second mark’. And I asked why? Who came up with that rule? Once Jyothi broke it, she created belief and now there are other girls coming up as well.