Can Jinson bounce back in 1,500m?

Jakarta: He was expected to deliver. He took up the challenge and was on the verge of being crowned Asia’s top-ranked 800m runner before being pushed to the second spot by an unfancied teammate at the magnificent Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Tuesday night.

Keralite Jinson Johnson, who had to settle for a silver behind Manjit Singh with a timing of 1:46.35 min in the final, however, was pleased with his efforts.

“I am happy that I could win a silver and to top it all it’s a 1-2 for India. My timing was also good. I could complete both laps in 53 seconds odd,” said Jinson.

Jinson, a native of Chakkitttapara in Kozhikode district, had won his heats ahead of Qatar’s Jamal Hairana and Sri Lanka’s Herath Ekanayaka by clocking 1:47.39s to book a spot in the final.

As someone who recently broke decades-old national records in both 800m and 1,500m, Jinson was high on confidence going into the continental event.

The lanky runner, who is at the peak of his career, shattered the 42-year-old 800m record, the oldest mark in the Indian record books set by Sriram Singh, during the 58th Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships held in Guwahati in June. Before that, he had rewritten Bhadur Prasad’s 23-year-old national record in 1,500m at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April.

In fact, he was widely expected to land gold for the country in 800m if he managed to repeat his personal best of 1:45:65 seconds at the continental event.

But Manjit’s late burst meant Jinson has to wait further to be crowned the best in Asia.

“Here it was not about personal best, it was all about a medal. In this weather (hot and humid) running back-to-back races are tough. I have to recover and get ready for the 1,500m,” he said.

A junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army, Jinson headed for Indonesia after undergoing a gruelling high-altitude training programme at the Thimphu Track and Field Centre in Bhutan.

The 27-year-old’s previous major achievements were the silver medal in 800 metres at the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships in Wuhan and the bronze in the Bhubaneswar Asian Championships last year.

The soft-spoken Jinson will begin his pursuit for the elusive gold as he will be in action in the 1,500m heats, which will take place on Wednesday night.