TN’s Selva Asia’s U-20 Male Athlete of Year

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu triple jumper Selva Prabhu Thirumaran has scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win the ‘Best Asian Under-20 Male Athlete of the Year’ award.

The Asian Athletics Association (AAA) recently declared that Selva, who had clinched silver at the World Athletics U-20 Championships at Cali in Colombia last year, would be the recipient of the prestigious award. The 18-year-old Selva will receive the top prize during the AAA 50th anniversary celebration, scheduled at Bangkok in Thailand on Monday.

“It (winning the award) is a huge thing. It will give me a lot of motivation and confidence. It will help me prepare better for the upcoming competitions. This is the first award that I am winning on a big stage, so my family members are extremely happy,” Selva, hailing from Madurai, told DT Next on Wednesday. “I will be leaving for Bangkok on Sunday. During the awards night, I will get to meet officials from World Athletics. I am excited to receive the award [from one of them],” he said.

In May, Selva added a feather in his cap by creating a new junior national record (16.79m) en route to securing gold at the Venizelia-Chania International meet at Chania in Greece. “Winning silver at the World U-20 Championships gave me so much motivation. I have shown a lot of improvement in the past 12 months,” said Selva, who trains under Cuban coach Yoandri Betanzos at the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) in Bellary.

Selva’s next big target is to book a ticket for the 2024 Paris Olympics in France. “We know the qualifying mark (17.20 m). I want to give my best to achieve that.”

The Tamil Nadu Athletic Association (TNAA) secretary C Latha was full of praise for Selva. “We are proud of what he has achieved. I am extremely proud to see an athlete from Tamil Nadu become the best not only in India but also in Asia. He has a good future; he has the qualities to become a great athlete at the senior level,” said Latha. “Generally, some triple jumpers take breaks because of injuries. But, Selva has been doing well on a consistent basis over the past one year,” added Latha.