New Delhi: Priya Mohan is creating a buzz in Indian athletics. This is not because she registered India’s fastest runner Dutee Chand four days ago, but is seen as a potential world-class athlete, with incredible muscle levers by biomechanics experts. Moreover, she is also hailed as a potential Olympic champion for her extraordinary performance.
“At our centre, we have tested more than 2000 elite athletes, but her readings are way better than any athlete who has walked in here,” says Anthony Chacko, director of the Karnataka state-run Centre for Sports Science (CSS).
“Her torque (strength and force generated by the legs and muscles around the thoracic spine) is about 480 Newton metres while most elite athletes we tested were in the 280 Nm region. She is blessed with an incredible recovery rate. If she stays injury-free, she has the potential to become a world-class athlete,” says Chacko.
Born on March 15, 2003, in Habbathanahalli village of Tumakuru district, Bengaluru, Priya Mohan is considered to be the fastest quarter-milers in the country. The 19-year-old athlete was competing at the ICSE School Nationals in October 2018, when her terrific performance caught the eyes of her present coach, Arun Ajay.
Priya showed massive improvement and also shaved off close to six seconds in just three months’ time in the 400m going from 1:05.50s to 57.81s.
Talking to Sportstar, Arun Ajay stated, “Her back was stiff. She used to bend a lot. We worked on her upper body strength and flexibility.”
Besides, Chacko stated, “Her peak torque, relative peak power, and recovery heart were too good for that particular sport. We also made her do a recovery intervention through hyperbaric oxygen therapy which helped her in reducing fatigue.” Along with Arun Ajay, other experts at the expert can predict “great scope of improvement.”
Last year, Priya registered 52.77s, with which she got to a close fourth at the Junior World Championships at Nairobi, and was India’s best timing in 400m in 2021. Moreover, this year, the Bengaluru girl began the season with her 400m best which is 52.37 at the Indian Grand Prix in March and has been consistent in the run-up to big-ticket events like Asian Games and the Junior World Championships.
Arun Ajay believes that Priya is capable of clocking below 51 seconds this season itself.
Priya is currently backed by JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sports and will pack her bags for Europe to train and compete in three Continental Tour Meets — May 15 (France), May 22 (Italy), May 28 (Spain) — a stint that can iron out a lot of flaws in her running.
“She is very young and we are not giving her too much of a load in training at the moment. We don’t want to burn her out. She is still a work in progress. Her starts are not so explosive and she still has to learn how to pace her run. But these are things she will improve with training and more exposure,” said Ajay.
