Sullia: S E Samshir from Sullia who brought laurels to state by winning gold in Long jump at the 57nd National Open Athletic Championship held in Chennai has a dream to qualify for the Olympics and win a medal for his country.
Son of S M Ibrahim and Ayesha from Jayanagar, Sahshir represented Railways at the championship recently.
He has been working hard to fulfil his dream to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics to be held in 2020. He also aims to win medal at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
Samshir who created a record for himself in the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.74m, aims to break his own record to qualify for the Asian Games with a target of 7.81 and 8m for the Commonwealth Games. “If I succeed in qualifying and winning a medal at Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, it would be a dream come true to participate in the Olympics,” says Samshir.
Samshir began his career at very young age in javelin throw. In his high school days, Samshir won gold in Javelin throw and triple jump and later on when he joined Moodabidri Alvas college, he shifted his focus on long jump as advised by his trainer.
Samshir credits Alvas college for all his achievements. “With the help of free education for the last five years at Alvas college I could participate and win several championships across the state and national level. I have also won several medals in triple jump and relay along with long jump. Alvas college has palyed an crucial role in making a successfull athlete,” he said.
In the year 2012, Samshir won gold at the National Games in long jump, triple jump and relay. He has also won gold in long jump and triple jump with a new meet record at state level. Later on, he went on winning medals at varsity, state and national-levels and won bronze in 2015 National Games held in Kerala with a leap of 7.46m, which was a turning point in his career.
This year he won silver at Federation Senior Athletics Championship and Grandricks Athletics Championship in Chennai. He had also represented India at the Asian Athletics Championship and Asian Indoor Athletic Championship. Currently he his undergoing training at National camp being held in Tiruvananthapuram. He is serving at the West Railways.
Though coming from a humble background, it has not prevented him from dreaming big. His parents have supported in his endeavors despite financial difficulties. “Every month we need money for training, to purchase sports equipments and other expenses. We are disappointed with the governments which has failed to provide any monetory help. We are yet to receive the prize money of several championships held across state, ” say parents.