Federation Cup: M Kiran's golden effort for Karnataka in junior athletics event

Bengaluru: As M. Kiran raced over the finish line to grab the only gold for Karnataka in the Federation Cup junior athletics event, perhaps there would have been a tinge of disappointment nagging at the back of his mind amongst the elation of his achievement. Clocking 21.62 seconds in the final, Kiran was 0.12 seconds slower compared to his semifinal performance.

“I did better in the semifinals which happened early morning but couldn’t reach my best in the final because of the heat. If it was later in the day, maybe I could have done a bit better,” said the Jain College student after the race. This was the 19-year-old’s first competitive appearence since moving to Karnataka following around half a dozen years in Tamil Nadu.

“I started in athletics when the PE teacher V Jayakumar saw me when I was studying in Montfort School in Yercaud, Selam,” remarked the well spoken youngster who represented Tamil Nadu in the 2013 junior nationals where he bagged gold in relay and silver in the 400M event.

“I moved to Bengaluru after six years in Selam for better education and training because the facilities are better here. The weather is also more conducive for training,” revealed the Bcom student who is stationed in Hosur.

The son of businessman T.V Murugan and Krishnaveni is also keen to keep his athletics career going to attain the Olympic dream and feels he is more than capable of balancing sports and education.

“I feel I can do both without making any compromise. My target in the 2020 Olympics and I have been participating in the national camps also,” stated the youngster.