Paulose: Fast and furious

Jamshedpur, Jan. 10: After winning a bronze medal at the recently concluded Asian Games, Doha, Sinimole Paulose may rub shoulders with European athletes to learn the nuances of the sport.

Senior functionaries of Tata Steel have declared that they plan to send the ace athlete to train with foreign counterparts for exposure. For this, the steel giant would also initiate talks with Athletic Federation of India authorities and international coaches.

Sinimole expressed her wish to train with foreign athletes as she feels she still has a long way to go to compete with them in the forthcoming Olympics in 2008, which is her ultimate target.

Tata Steel sports department chief Satish Pillai told The Telegraph: “We are planning to initiate talks with the athletic federation and also international coach Nicholai Nasarev. We would give Sinimole whatever training she needs for a brilliant performance in the Olympics. The company management has promised this and my job is to ensure that it happens as early as possible,” said Pillai.

After coming back to the city this morning, Sinimole pointed out: “In the 1,500 m, in which I won the bronze, I was competing with world number one Mariam Usuf Jamal of Bahrain and I was very tense. She came first as usual but I felt that we were technically very poor. My aim is the Olympics and I need to train with world class athletes to perform better. The boost during the initial race, strength, endurance and speed are very good which is still lacking in me. I have to work on these aspects to come up to world standards.”

While she maintained that she did not have any plans for her marriage as of now, what would really make her happy is a “dignified” job.

“I would not go in for a Class III job which is being offered to me,” said Sinimole.

She received a cash award of Rs 2 lakh by the Kerala government where she hails from.