Vishal TK credits coach Jason Dawson for his achievement
For the 21-year-old, his hard work "is bigger than a national record"
He switched to 400m from 100, 200m on the insistence of NCOE mentor Seenivasan Ramaiah
Targeting Asian Games and Commonwealth Games 2026 next
"I am going to win at the Olympics," says the new 400m national record holder Vishal TK when asked about whether he has a dream in his career. "But for that, I have to work hard," he adds in the very same breath. Like every other elite athlete, Vishal is highly ambitious but like most elite athletes, he is also practical.
All of 21, Vishal broke the national record in 400m at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships 2025 in Chennai. With a time of 45.12 seconds, Vishal surpassed the previous national mark of 45.21, set by Muhammed Anas Yahiya in 2019.
In an exclusive interaction with Outlook, Vishal talked about how despite becoming the national record holder, he still is just learning.
"It's a learning period, no. I just keep on learning. The work which Jason (Dawson) put in training made me break the national record," says Vishal.
Jason Dawson of Jamaica is coaching Vishal and the national record holder does not shy away from giving his mentor the credit. In fact, right after breaking the national record, Vishal took out a note from his pocket that read, ‘For my coach Jason’ and showed it on camera.
"Whatever he (Jason) says, I will do. I trusted him blindly. That's why I am here. That's why I broke the national record," says Vishal.
Vishal is proud of breaking the national mark but for him his hard work is dearer.
"I am just feeling very proud of myself. I knew I will do it before doing it. But the work which we put in to get here, (that is why) I am very proud to say I am a national record holder of India.
"For real, I don't think of national records. The work which I put in now that made me to believe that I am going to make it. The hard work is bigger than a national record."
Vishal's achievement feels even more remarkable when one knows that he was running 100, 200m not a long time back. He was doing well in those sprint distances before Seenivasan Ramaiah, who coaches at the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Thiruvananthapuram, told him to switch to 400m.
"Seenivasan coach told me to run 400 metres, and I made up my mind to go and try. I just put myself together and tried to run. It's very difficult. I only started in April 2024."
Talking about the challenges he faced in 400 metres training, Vishal said: "I had speed but not endurance. I just tried to build it. It was very hard for 4-5 months.
"In December, in All India University I was the silver medallist, running a personal best of 46.43. After December, I joined Jason at the Indian camp at Trivandrum.
"And then I won gold medal at the senior federation with a timing of 46.19s. I went to world relays thereafter and ran a 48.6s split. And in Asian Championships, I was fourth with 45.57s. I ran my first 45 there," said Vishal on his journey on the 400m track.
What adjustments did he make? Not many, he says.
"Jason told me, you are just a child in school. He made small corrections in drills, warm-ups, stretching, and body posture."
All the hard work finally paid dividends when Vishal took the limelight with his record-breaking outing. He will finally get to go home after one year.
He hails from Jolarpet in the Tirupattur district of Tamil Nadu. By the time he got to the sixth standard, Vishal was sent to Chennai, where his stint with athletics began. He kept running as he grew up but the real change came in the COVID-19 years.
"I started in 6th standard. I joined the sports hostel in Chennai. At that time we were not very knowledgeable about sports. After lockdown in 2020, only then I got to know, 'Oh this is what it is. This is what sports is'.
"Then only I got matured. I believed in myself with whatever I worked on, and did whatever my coach said, be it my earlier coaches too."
Now he is headed to Jolarpet, where he will take a four-week rest and after that regular services resume as he aims for bigger accolades. His coach Jason has already started preparing him mentally.
"More, he (Jason) said after breaking the national record also. We have more work to do. He said we are not going to end the season here. We are going to work for the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games for next year. It's very difficult. So, make up your mind and get ready for the next year."
He also thanked JSW for helping him and said that the athletics scene is growing in the country.
"India is upgrading. In four events (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m), we broke national records. So, we are improving. Maybe in future, we will get more medals in international competitions. It will be easier in future (for athletes). The Athletics Federation of India is helping too."
