When Murali Kumar Gavit left for Iten, Kenya, in January this year, the 23-year-old was looking forward to a fruitful year with a shot at Tokyo Olympics qualification and a shot a personal glory.
The long-distance runner, popularly known as the Dang Express because of the tribal village he comes from, had won double gold (5000m and 10000m) in the Federation Cup last year and also a bronze medal in the Asian Athletics Championships and was confident of making it to his first Olympics last this year.
But four months later, with the world of sports coming to a halt and the Tokyo Games postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gavit is stuck thousands of kilometres away from his family in the remote village in Kenya with no company and no clarity on when he would ultimately be able to come home or start training again.
“There is not much to do here since even Kenya is in lockdown and no training is allowed. Thankfully the grocery shops are open for sometime in the day and I can buy stuff that I need. I have been cooking for myself since I started coming here for training, so that is not much of a problem,” he told Scroll.in over the phone.
Gavit has spent almost seven months in Iten for the last four years, training under Dutch coach Hugo van den Broek who has been living in Kenya and coaching long-distance athletes. Since he is not part of the Target Olympic Podium scheme, the 23-year-old manages the cost of training there through the financial support he gets from Sports Authority of Gujarat and the prize money he makes after winning national and international medals.
“At first, I had to train alone but then as my performance improved, I started training with the group,” he said.
Most of these group members have now gone back home and he doesn’t really have many options but to maintain his basic fitness by training alone while interacting with his coach on phone.
So did he not try to come back to India before the situation got worse?
“I did. I tried to book a ticket on March 20 but it was quite costly. So I thought I would book myself for 23rd or 24th. But by then all the flights were suspended.
“I have been in touch with the embassy people since then. They have taken down my details but probably there are not enough people who are waiting to go back to India to arrange for a special flight,” he added.
Since the place he is staying at has basic facilities and doesn’t even have a television for entertainment, he currently spends most of his time talking to his family back home who have to worry about the return of two siblings.
While he is stuck in Kenya, his brother is stranded somewhere near Jodhpur while traveling with heading to his army base. “We stay in touch with each other on the phone till we all meet again.”
With the coronavirus pandemic unlikely to go away soon, Gavit may be staring at a long haul in Kenya with no competition to look forward to.