Race walker Irfan happy he doesn't have to walk the extra mile as his Olympic qualification would stand

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: KT Irfan was the first Indian athlete to qualify for the now deferred Tokyo Olympics. The Kerala lad was thrilled when TOI broke the news that athletes who had already qualified for the 2020 Games before they were postponed will keep their places when the showpiece takes place in 2021.
"I was worried whether the qualification will stand for the now deferred Games which will now be held sometime in 2021.I feared that World Athletics (the governing body of the game) might tweak the qualification rules again. But I'm relieved now after hearing the news," said Irfan, who achieved the Olympic qualification in men's 20km race walk event in Asian Race Walking Championships in Nomi, Japan in March 2019.
Irfan finished fourth in the Asian meet with a time of 1 hour 20 minutes and 57 seconds to book his ticket for Tokyo. The qualification standard was set at 1 hour 21 minutes. Irfan is also the lone athlete from Kerala to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in an individual event.
The Olympics qualification period for race walk events and marathon race began from January 1, 2019 and was to run till May 31, 2020.
This will be the second Olympics for the lad from Malappuram after the 2012 London Games where he finished an astonishing 10th plave, clocking 1:20.21s, which continues to be his personal best and the national record.
"I was very much sure of doing well this time after missing the 2016 Rio Games. My target is to do better than my personal best in Tokyo this year. But I got scared at how fast Coronavirus was spreading. Everything has gone topsy-turvy, right? It is very disappointing that the Olympics will not go ahead in 2020, but given the unprecedented circumstances facing the world at present, it is understandable. Now I have to start all over again," said the 30-year-old.
Irfan is now based at the SAI centre in Bengaluru, which is out of bounds for all except for Olympic-bound campers. "I have PR Sreejesh, the Indian hockey goalkeeper for the company among others including Jinson Johnson. I was training under Russian coach Alexander Artsybashev. The coach has told me that we'll have to reschedule the training," the army man said.
"As an athlete, I would say that the lockdown now is good. Safety first is my motto and we have time to think about preparations. My training was hitting top gear. After the decision from IOC came, we have been asked to go slow. I will resume my training soon. This break will probably give us more time to prepare for the Olympic Games and be at our best. The positive part is that we have more time to toughen up," he said.