Dharun Ayyasamy (21), an Olympian athlete from Tirupur who recently qualified for Commonwealth Games, has reached Gold Coast in Australia in advance to get acclimatised to the conditions at the Games venue.

“Training at the host country in advance will enhance the chances of a medal,” said J. Alagesan, the athlete’s personal coach.

Dharun qualified for the Commonwealth Games by finishing with a national record performance of 49.45 seconds in the men’s 400 m hurdles at the Federation Cup event at Patiala on March 8.

“What makes the selection fascinating is that the timing was exactly the one set worldwide for selection to the Commonwealth Games this time. The performance at Patiala thus broke the 10-year-old national record held by Joseph Ganapathiplackal Abraham of Kerala in 2007”, Mr. Alagesan said.

Dharun, who represented India in the Rio Olympics in 2016 in 4X 400 metres relay, had started his preparations for the Commonwealth Games immediately after the Patiala event.

“I practised at Sports Authority of India’s training facility at Patiala before embarking on the Australian trip”, Dharun told The Hindu over phone.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by R. Vimal Kumar / Tirupur – March 22nd, 2018