SAVINDER Kaur has been running for a very long time, practically from the start of her primary school days.
The middle distance runner has never stopped running her most important race – to improve her personal best and be at the top among her league.
Recently, Savinder won a gold medal for Selangor in the women’s 800m at the Malaysia Open Athletics GP Championships.
The April event saw her return to form with a personal best time last clocked in 2016 during the Asian Junior Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The win was a momentous moment for Savinder as she had struggled to reach her old time for about five years.
Savinder, who comes from a humble yet big family of seven, recently spoke to theSun about her career as a national athlete.
How did you get into running, especially distance running?
I started when I was eight years old during my primary school days. My passion was originally for football. Running was the second choice. I was always good at running, and my parents always supported me. They had no problem with that (although) they weren’t athletes.
What are the achievements you achieved as a middle distance runner?
When I was 14 years old, I went to Nanjing in China for the Asian Youth Games in 2013. I won a silver medal. It was my biggest achievement in my youth. Now, I have gone to the SEA Games twice – for SEA Games Kuala Lumpur in 2017 and SEA Games Philippines in 2019.
Has Covid-19 affected your training?
Yes, of course. Now, we don’t know when the next competition will be. Everything has been postponed. We just continue training like normal. The KL Open was supposed to be (the third week of May), but then... cancelled. The National Open was supposed to be (this month), but it was also cancelled.
What is a typical training day like?
We train like normal, even during the pandemic. Morning and evening. One session is about two hours. Training is in the gym and on the track.
How do you keep yourself motivated when it comes to training, especially during the pandemic?
I’m not the only one going through this pandemic. Everyone is going through the same thing. I just focus and be strong, especially going to train and practice with the mindset to get better. But you never know, they can suddenly say: “Next week there is a competition”, and I have to be ready.
What was the worst injury you had?
I was injured when I was 16 years old. I had a hamstring and back injury that caused me to take one year off from training. I came back when I was 18.
How did the injury happen? I think it happened during training. I fell down while doing hurdles. I entered Bukit Jalil and had to adapt to the training, which was hard.
That was when I got the injury.
What will you be working towards next?
I was supposed to go to Kazakhstan (this month). But then at the last minute they said I’m not going. I was supposed to go there for an 800m middle distance race.
The big competition this year is the SEA Games in Vietnam. Every athlete is trying to find competitions to qualify for, but we don’t know when the next competition will be.
