Jeevanesh of HCI holds off Rafflesian challenge to win A Division 1500m title

By REDintern Soh Rui Yong

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Wednesday, April 14, 2010 – Jeevanesh S/O Soundarajah of Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) survived a brave challenge over the final lap by Rafflesian Mahdi Marican to win the A Division Boys’ 1500m title by 0.53 seconds at the 51st National Inter-School Track and Field Championships.

Jeevanesh clocked a time of 4 min 22.19 seconds, while Mahdi finished close behind in 4:22.72. The 2010 national schools’ cross-country champion Lim Zhi Ming, also of Raffles Institution (RI), took the bronze in 4:25.50 to complete the top three.

The A Division boys’ 1500m final has always been a main highlight of the schools’ track and field championships because it is a source of much entertainment and drama. For proof, one needs to look no further than last year's final, when fellow Rafflesians Adriel Tay and Soh Hua Qun battled shoulder-to-shoulder over the final 100m, before simultaneously engaging in Superman-like dives at the finish line. Then, Adriel won the exciting duel in a time of 4:19.23 to Hua Qun's 4:19.28 - a difference of merely 0.05s.

As the runners lined up for this year's final, all eyes were on them as excited spectators began to predict the outcome of the race. Jeevanesh, a JC1 student in HCI, was looking to win his first national schools gold medal, having narrowly missed out twice this year – first at the cross-country finals where he finished second to Zhi Ming, and then in the 800m finals where another close finish saw him having to settle for the bronze. In the 1500m however, he was the odds-on favourite to win, with his strong finishing kick being his main weapon and advantage over the rest of the field.

As soon as the starting gun went off, the fierce jostling for positions was apparent. Jeevanesh soon found himself boxed in the middle of the pack, but kept his calm, and waited for his opportunity to move out. Noticing a gap in the pack of runners with 200m of the race gone, Jeevanesh shifted wide and accelerated into the lead.

He proceeded to lead the field through the first 400m in 68 seconds, and looked to be comfortable at the front, setting the rhythm of the race with his long flowing strides. With two laps left to go, Jeevanesh had dropped off most of the field with his pace, and the front pack had been reduced to a group of five.

Zhi Ming, more of a consistent, even-paced runner not known to possess a strong finishing kick, now moved quickly to the front to force up the pace, presumably to burn off the energy of his fellow competitors and weaken their finishing sprints in order to give him a better chance at victory.

Zhi Ming attempted to quicken the rhythm of the race on the penultimate lap, and though he looked to be working hard, the rest of the pack managed to stay with him all the way to the start of the final lap. As the bell sounded, Marcus Tan of Victoria Junior College (VJC) challenged Zhi Ming and moved briefly into the lead, but no sooner had he done so when Jeevanesh pounced, swinging wide of the pack and starting his finishing drive for the line.

Mahdi of RI, who all this while had been running a tactically smart race by always staying in fourth or fifth position, now finally made his first big move of the race, tracking Jeevanesh like a hunter as the latter moved into the lead. Jeevanesh was now running in full stride, switching gears down the back straight and jamming up the pace, making it extremely difficult for the others to stay with him.

With 200m to go, only Jeevanesh, Mahdi and Zhi Ming were still in contention and the medals looked certain to be shared between them. Here, Mahdi took a huge gamble, and challenged Jeevanesh on the final bend for the lead, attempting to overtake the leader on the curve. However, Jeevanesh responded quickly to the challenge and again stepped up his rhythm, managing to hold Mahdi at bay. The Rafflesian's gamble had failed, and he was now forced to run wide on the curve, covering extra distance and losing precious energy.

Coming off the bend into the last 100m, both runners were extremely tired and struggling to lift their legs. From now on, it was case of mind over matter, and who wanted the title more. Mahdi again launched a fierce challenge, but Jeevanesh, from deep within his lactic-acid paralysed body, somehow summoned enough reserves to fight back and hold off Mahdi's effort all the way down the home straight.

After a long, brutal and bruising final lap, Jeevanesh crossed the line first to take the gold medal, while Mahdi followed close behind for the silver. The sprint finish had proved too quick for Zhi Ming, and he finished further back in third position to bag the bronze.

Jeevanesh later shared: "I am very happy as this is the first national schools gold medal of my athletics career. I was actually aiming for a time of around 4:10, but I started too fast, and began to feel tired halfway through the race. The numerous races over the last week must have taken its toll on me. Thus I switched my tactic on the second lap, no longer focusing on running a good time but on winning the race instead."

"I started to push hard with 300m to go, as I was confident that I would be able to sustain such a kick all the way to the finish, knowing my own ability. Mahdi put in a very strong challenge in the last 150m, but thankfully I was able to hold him off."

Asked about his goals for the future, the newly-crowned 1500m champion replied, "Hopefully, I can be selected to represent Singapore at the ASEAN Schools Games (held in Kuala Lumpur from 12th to 21st July). I will train hard for it, and the strong competition there can perhaps spur me on to better my 1500m timing.

“I will also try to win a triple crown of individual titles next year at the national schools level (namely the national schools cross country individual title, plus two track gold medals). With Zachary coming up to the A Division next year, we can also push each other to faster timings, and I am looking forward to that."

Our sports scene is blessed to have a disciplined, hard-working, and humble champion such as Jeevanesh, and he is certainly a role-model for all our aspiring young athletes to look up to. With continued progress, we can certainly expect great things from the newly-crowned 1500m champion next season, and in the years to come as well!

Keep it up Jeevanesh!

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