English Breakfast (SAISA Track and Field Chennai 2023)
SAISA track and field took place from the 9-11 of February 2023 in Chennai India. AISC (American International School of Chennai) hosted the event on their rubber athletics track which is the only school in the SAISA conference that has one. We arrived in Chennai on the 8th of February and went straight to the school where we got to see the track and meet some of the team that had already arrived. I met up with lots of my old SAISA friends from previous competitions. We then made our way to the hotel where we got an early night ready for the opening day.
Day 1: We started the day at 5:15 am where we got ready and had breakfast then making an early exit to AISC at 6am ready for the 1500 which were the first events. After that we commenced the tournament with the opening ceremony which had all the athletes taking the SAISA oath. The 100 meters started shortly after which I warmed up for. I was the fastest time going into the heats which was very exciting. I ran a new PB (personal best) of 11.23 seconds in the prelims which improved on my previous PB by 0.8 seconds. I was seeded first going into the finals later on in the day. I then went to high jump with I was skeptical about being the shortest person there at about 1.73 m. I exceeded my expectations when I won the event without failing a single jump and getting a new PB of 1.75 meters. After this win I was fired up for my 100 finals which I went into very confident which payed off as I won gold with a time of 11.3. Later that evening we started the 4×400 relay, possible one of the hardest events in the sport. Everyone in the team ran very well however when I got the baton as fourth runner the team was second by 30 meters. I had to work extremely hard to close the gap on the first place and ran my best 400 possible to win the relay just on the line. We then received our medals and went back to the hotel. (3/3)
9e891c0e93da45298620e1ce6f659694 – High jump PB video (winning jump)
IMG_1020 – 4×400 meter relay finish
beb793ed7c9a4fdc90c1fc1c1dad043a – 100 meter finals (11.3s)
Day 2: Same as the previous day we woke up at 5:15 am and got to school early ready for the 800 meter event which everyone on the team competing did very well in. After that was the 200 meter prelims which I warmed up for and again I was the fastest seed time going into it. I won my race with a new PB of 24.5. I then had a long break as this was the only event that I had that day. I had to work on mobilisation and rehabilitation as I was very sore. I had lots of protein, fluids and sleep till my 200 meter finals. I then took part in my finals after not feeling happy with the time I ran in the prelims. I ran a very good new PB of 23.9 in the finals of my 200 winning this event also (I beat this time 2 weeks later in a different competition running 23.81). After the medal ceremony and dinner we went back to the hotel. (4/4)
06edfdf0cf5f47ebbb6fc5128aec362e – 200 meter finals video (23.9s)
Day 3: The final day came upon us very quickly after 3 months of training this was the last competition day. As always an early rise at 5:15 am where we got to school where some brave souls decided to run the 3000 meter which I personally could never do. However after this I warmed up and prepared for the scariest race in athletics the 400 meters. This is because this race is a sprint but your body struggles to maintain a fast pace for this amount of distance making it the most difficult and most painful race in athletics. I warmed up with the Lincoln school coach as he was a professional 400 meter runner and helped me out considerably. The time was there and the previous heat ran 55.6 seconds but my coach told me they ran 53 which was the time I was going for to break the SAISA record. I ran my best 400 meter race yet running 54.2 barely missing out on the record. I was firstly upset that I came seconds but my coach got the times wrong and I had actually won the event by 1.5 seconds which was ecstatic about. I then had lunch and moved to long jump. Long jump is also one of my best events however the runway wasn’t long enough for my run up so I messed up my first jump luckily I had a shorter one to use as well. I jumped 6.19 meters which won the event however not a new PB (6.35 meters which I managed to beat on the same day as my 200 time in another competition by jumping 6.70-80 meters). Finally the last event of SAISA, the much anticipated 4×100 meter relay. This event was my last ever SAISA track event after 9 years of SAISA track and field this was the last time. The most special race of my lift up to date where my team gave it everything and as I got the baton in the last leg of the relay I managed to bring our team to victory for the last time completing my SAISA goal of 7/7 gold medals winning my last event at SAISA. We managed to come 2nd overall as a team with me winning 80 points out of 80 which helped drive our team into second.
It was an incredible event and I will miss it more than I think now but I hope to comeback next year as a coach to be with my team again and run the coaches relay with my coaches from this year for a bit of fun.