When Nur Mohammed Hasan initially embarked on his athletic training, his primary aim was to secure a position in the armed forces. The 3000m steeplechase admits that he never had a strong passion for athletics nor did he hold any lofty aspirations. However, everything changed when he achieved his first junior medal at the age of 16.“Observing boys in my neighbourhood training for the armed forces, I decided to join them. My initial motivation was simply to secure a stable job to support my family. But as I started witnessing positive outcomes, my perspective shifted, and I developed a deep passion for athletics,” Nur explained.On Tuesday, during the Ranchi Federation Cup, a young athlete from Uttar Pradesh achieved a remarkable milestone in his career. The 21-year-old athlete recorded a champion performance by clocking a time of 8:30.56s in the race, which was nearly 10 seconds better than the Asian Championship qualification standard set by the Athletics Federation of India.With this impressive timing at the Federation Cup, the slender athlete now holds the second position in Indias all-time list, just behind Avinash Sable, who is currently undergoing training in the United States. Although Nur attained a new personal best and won the gold medal, he expressed a slight sense of disappointment for not achieving an even better timing.image: yahooNur hails from a farming family in the Mau district, where his family is involved in local horse racing. At the tender age of 10, he was entrusted with the responsibility of handling his first foal entirely on his own. “Being quite lean, I was chosen to train the young horse initially as lighter individuals are preferred for this task. I still vividly remember the first time I sat on a horse and leaped into the air,” he reminisces.Nur and his journey from horses to hurdlesEven before he delved into athletics at the age of 14, Nur was traversing North India, participating in horse racing competitions with his familys horse in pursuit of prize money. “I am still quite skilled at it,” he remarks. Although he initially focused on long-distance running, his sports hostel coach suggested that he give steeplechase a try—a sport named after a horse racing event.“I was initially quite scared. In regular hurdles, if you hit them, they fall down. But in steeplechase, if you hit the barrier, you can break your bones. The first few times I fell down and even injured myself,” he recalls, pointing to a scar on his left thigh.One of Avinash Sables notable grievances while training in India was the lack of formidable competitors to challenge him. While Nur still has a long way to go to reach the ever-improving Sables level, the national steeplechase standards can improve if Nur manages to lower his timings in the upcoming years. “I first competed against Sable in 2018 as a junior athlete and witnessed how impressive he was. I aspire to achieve timings similar to his,” he expresses.Nur feels a great sense of relief due to the employment opportunity he obtained through his sporting achievements. He vividly recalls the times when he had to travel in unreserved railway coaches, often standing for hours, in order to participate in junior-level competitions.“Today, I can travel by air, but there was a time when I couldnt even afford a ticket in a reserved compartment. Coaches would question why my legs were swollen before the competition. They had no idea that I had to endure six hours of crowded train travel just to reach the venue,” he shares.
