BANGALORE, June 8: Amit Khanna could well pass off as a body builder. But, despite his build, the 200 metres sprint champion at the National Games from Delhi is light on his feet.The Bangalore meet has helped Amit emerge as a sprinter in his own right after being in the shadow of established sprinters like Anand Natarajan and Rajeev Balakrishnan. After winning the 200 metres sprint decisively on Friday, he is all set to add the glamour event, the 100 metre dash, to his kitty of medals to end the meet in a blaze of glory.

``I aim to go for the record held by Rajeev Balakrishnan which is at 10.59 seconds for the short sprint. My personal best, electronically clocked timing, has been 10.7 seconds. I want to prove my detractors wrong because many are harping that I have been winning by default in the absence of Rajeev. In fact, the two times we have run together, we have a one-all record.''

Amit is not happy with the 21.40 seconds he clocked for the winning effort in the 200 metres which only equalled the meet record.

``If the competition had been stiff, I would have done better. I was running well within myself although I did feel stiff in the last 20 metres. If rain does not affect underfoot conditions, I am expecting to clock a fast time in the 100 metres,'' said Amit with a air of confidence, borne out by the fact that he is easily the best in the fray at the present meet.

Amit has made steady progress in the last four years and has been part of India's 4x100m relay medal winning team at the SAF Games. Coached by former 400 metres hurdler Yaduvinder Singh, Amit is satisfied with his improvement since he came under the hurdler's training since last one year``I began under my father S S Rai and trained under different coaches.

Yaduvinder has been able to get the best out of me. My coach is not happy with my performance in the 200 metres. He has been devoting so much time that I can't afford to disappoint him. I expect to do better in the forthcoming Federation Cup Meet,'' said a Amit in a confident tone.

Amit has intentions of shifting to the quarter-mile in the near future. ``I began as a 400 metres runner and shifted to sprints. I am confident that I can turn out to be better in the longer sprint.

``I want to gradually phase my shifting to 400 metres as I can't take defeats any longer.''

Perhaps it could be a case of a switch in time.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.