In January, Servin Sebastian was on the verge of quitting race walking. A family matter had affected his mental peace. He didn’t have the mindspace to train. Servin had decided to head back home to his village, Edayathumangalam in Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu to be with his family, his army coach Ganapathi Krishnan, said.
However, Ganapathi, a 2016 Olympian, didn’t want Servin to drop out. He counselled Servin, the gist of his message was about not wasting an opportunity to win a ‘big medal’ and bring joy to his family.
On Tuesday, Servin won his first international medal, a bronze at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea. The top seven finishers bettered the meet record, Servin posted a personal best of 1 hour, 21 minutes and 14 seconds. China’s Asian Games silver medallist Zhaozhao Wang (1:20:37) won gold and Japan’s Kento Yoshikawa (1:20:46) took the silver.
For Ganapathi, the Asian Championships silver is a proof of Servin’s potential. He’s also glad that the athlete who almost dropped out four months ago finished on the podium in Gumi.
“Servin was very stressed at the start of the year because of a family issue. It was understandable. But I told him he would be making a mistake if he gave up race-walking because he had potential. I told him to go home for 10 days and return. We used to talk everyday and I tried my best to keep him motivated but at the same time lend him an ear. If he trusts a coach then he will give his 100 percent,” Ganapathi said.
The first person Servin spoke to after winning the silver medal was his mother Gracy. “She was crying because of joy,” Servin told The Indian Express from Gumi, South Korea.
His father Sebastian, a farmhand who earns Rs 250 a day, came on the line next. “When I started off my father borrowed money to buy me shoes. Today I am happy I could give something to them in return. Winning a first international medal is a special moment. In 2023, I won silver medals at national competitions, then last year I won gold medals. Winning a bronze at the Asian Championships is the next step. I hope to qualify for the World Championships later this year,” Servin said.
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Servin is also elated about registering a personal best. Last year at the Indian Race Walking Championships in Chandigarh, Servin had qualified for the Paris Olympics by clocking 1:20.03, however, the results didn’t stand because of faulty timing systems.
“What happened last year was not in my control. But I had to accept my fate. It was not the fault of athletes. I am someone who does not think about the past. Today, I am happy that I could also clock a personal best that will remain in the record books,” Servin, an Indian army havildar, said.
From 800m to walk
He started off as an 800 metre runner but a hamstring injury when he was 16, forced him to change course. A trainee at the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri hostel, Servin’s career as a 800 metre athlete had hit a roadblock. However, his coach Indira asked him not to despair.
“Indira ma’am asked me to try race walking. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but because of the hamstring injury it was the best option for me,” Servin said.
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Coach Indira cajoled him to take the next important step in his career — appear for selection trials of the Indian army. Servin was inducted in 2018 and initially trained in Hyderabad, before moving to the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune four years later. Since then Ganapathi has been his coach.
Technical tweaks
Ganapathi recalls that Servin needed a few technical tweaks if he was to progress. Indian walkers have been disqualified overseas because of technical faults — three at the 2018 Asian Games. Ganapathi too has seen red paddles when he was an active athlete.
“What generally happens in India is that coaches and athletes try to get as fast as possible without focussing on the technical aspects. That is because they want quick results. What happens in international competition is that till about 10 kilometres Indian walkers are doing well but once the speed picks up they are not able to keep pace without committing a foul. This also happens because they get tired. Indian walkers have great potential if they correct technical flaws early,” Ganapaty said.
In Servin’s case what needed correction was what is called the ‘bounce’ or both feet in the air. “In race-walking at least one foot needs to be in contact with the ground at all times. So, in the off-season I helped him iron out technical issues by giving him longer training sessions but at a slower pace so there is no ‘bounce’. He will only get better from here on,” Ganapathi said.
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With an Asian bronze medal under his belt, Servin knows what it takes to rub shoulders with some of the best in the continent.
