Reliance Foundation to begin competition on 'Performance Graded Races'

In what is a unique initiative athletes from the Reliance Foundation Odisha Athletics High Performance Centre HPC in Bhubaneswar will now have the opportunity to participate in a uniquely designed competition series that follows the concept of ldquoPerformance Graded RacesrdquoThe competitions begin on October 24 followed by further events on October 28 October 31 and a final event on November 8 In a significant departure from practice races at these competitions will be graded entirely on timings achieved by athletes irrespective of their age or sexldquoIt allows athletes to experience the most competitive race possible and will hopefully help the athletes focus more on their own best individual performances rather than getting distracted in personal rivalries or just winning their respective age group racerdquo explains Head Coach James Hillier ldquoWe would rather an athlete finishes 5th in a personal best performance in a highquality race than win easily with a poor performance in a weak racerdquoldquoWe wanted to create a competition programme that puts the athlete and their needs at the forefrontrdquo Hillier adds ldquoOur athlete focussed competitions aim to give our competitors the best conditions and environment to run fast Our sprint events will always be run with prevailing wind conditions and our middledistance events will have pacemakers We also rank our races based purely on performances and therefore it is possible for athletes of different ages and sex to compete in the same race if they are of similar abilitiesrdquoHillier experimented with a similar concept with a hurdles specific competition in the UK before he came on board as Head Coach at the RF Odisha HPC and says the model was ldquoextremely well receivedrdquo by the athletes that participated In the first year with the impact of the Covid19 pandemic still being felt the competition will be restricted to athletes from the HPC academy and monitoring cohort However Hillier and his team plan to expand the competition from next year and beyond to athletes outside the HPCThe intention is to build what Hillier describes is a forwardthinking ldquoAthletecentric modelrdquo that can revolutionise the entire competition process in India From 2021 onwards athletes from Odisha and across India will be encouraged to participate once they have met the minimum performance cut off required in the lowest graded race Hillier is also keen to secure participation from elite athletes as special invitees The expectation is future events will be held over three nights ndash a Sprints fest Endurance fest and Hurdles festldquoThese competitions will add value and more opportunities for athletes and we are confident they will see huge value for the athletes in what we are doingrdquo says Hillier ldquoUltimately we feel strongly that these competitions will help offer more competitive opportunities for athletes in India and go some way to improving athletic standards in the countryrdquoThe HPC a collaborative effort of the Odisha Government and the Reliance Foundation currently has 29 athletes under its wing split between the monitoring cohort and the academy Athletes in the cohort are identified as being a maximum of 5 years away from winning a national level medal 20 such athletes from all over Odisha are currently part of the monitoring cohort and reside at the Bhubaneswar state sports hostelAthletes in the academy group are identified at various stages of development from being two years away from winning a national level medal to those with established international credentials There are 9 such athletes 6 from Odisha at the HPC academy currently who live at the Kalinga stadium In Hillierrsquos estimation at the end of these four competitions with plenty of time in the interim periods to analyse performances these athletes will make significant progressldquoI expect all athletes to benefit from these competitions though in different waysrdquo Hillier elaborates ldquo For some of our younger athletes in the monitoring cohort the emphasis will be more on competition learning and how to compete whilst some of our older athletes from the HPC Academy will be looking for some performance improvementsrdquoldquoThere is enough time between the competitions to get rest and also reflect on improving any small things that will help the athletes perform even better in the next competitionrdquo he adds ldquoWe have scheduled 4 competitions over a 2 week period which allows our athletes to train to try and peak during this window The aim is for our athletes to perform at their best in the final competition Therefore we will be working with our athletes to reflect and improve their performances after each competitionrdquoHillier and his team have also earmarked the competition as a template to scout talented athletes that can be part of the HPC in the future from Odisha as well as other statesldquoWe expect our athletes performances will validate the huge improvements that they have made during the course of the training yearrdquo concludes Hillier ldquoOur testing data gives us optimism that our athletes will perform well These competitions will also give the coaches and the whole performance team a good insight into how different athletes respond to the pressure of competitionrdquoTo ensure the competitions are conducted in an entirely safe environment strict Covid protocols will be in placeKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesMidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever