James Hillier set his footsteps on Indian land for the first time five years ago, and he was not just another foreign coach hired for a spree.
It is not about podium finishes and medals for James. His vision was much deeper. He came here to build an Indian athletics program from scratch, a program that could stand on its own. He was determined to rebuild the whole system.
Coming from the UK’s structured, grassroots-rich sports system, Hillier was struck by the ad-hoc nature of athletics in India. Competitions often lacked planning, training programs were inconsistent, and systems for athlete development were either missing or under-utilised. It wasn’t about resources, he observed, but how they were being used.
“When I first came to India, I saw lots of things happening—without structure, without planning,” Hillier, aformer sprint and hurdles coach with British Athletics, said in an exclusive interaction with WION. “A lot of last-minute dot com things happening. I felt if we could just give some structure to the athletes—because athletes crave structure—that could be the game changer.”
He crafted new systems, integrated to the global model standards, that could function independently in the UK and Germany. But every single one of them was set according to Indian scenarios.
The infrastructure and planning alone is not what produces champions. Hillier found the most important missing piece was attitude. No matter how much raw talent and numbers are available, there will always be a gap in belief and possibility around world class success. This however, had to shift.
“Indiais like a sleeping giant in athletics. If the mindset isn’t developed—if Indian athletes don’t believe they can be world class—then they won’t be.”
It was clear that Hillier had a different mindset. It wasn’t just developing the sprint or polishing the technique, it was selling belief. Young athletes had to be told that they were not competing on the same track as Americans, Europeans, or Jamaicans, but were rather, on the same level. To do this, they needed, access to, and regular competition, support systems centered on long-term goals rather than short-term success.
Building trust in athletes is equally important in Hillier’s view as achieving structure. He believes that athletes are not machines to be optimised and sees them as human beings without any ego. What motivates them drives their fears, and their lives beyond track, all of which are essential for his approach.
“Every athlete has a life beyond sports. That’s where I begin,” he mentioned. “I would love to understand what drives them. Are they intertwined with providing a living for their households? Earning a living? It is fine, but it will not work here if that is the single motivation. This is a program directed towards becoming the best you can be.”
It has fostered the relationships he has with some of his elite athletes like Amlan Borgohain and Jyothi Yarraji. He concedes to being tough, but is unapologetic in saying that it comes from concern when he has to do so.
“I have been very tough with Amlan at times,” he shared. “But they know I have got their back. I am in it for them, not for me. Positivity is important as with a happy athlete, you have one who is going to perform exceptionally.”
Hillier got the idea of performance-graded races during the COVID-19 lockdown when competition was non-existent and the spirits of everyone were low. Athletes started at different ability levels forcing faster runners to compete for even top positions.
“We devised races in which people began at different positions—Amlan would chase someone starting at 180m,” he remembers. “Even with a small pool of athletes, it allowed for competition.”
‘I require fast people’
Hillier thinks what distinguishes truly great athletes from good ones is the lack of an intangible urge to rise above in competition. “I cannot take a slow person and make them fast; I can only make them less slow,” he responds matter-of-factly. “I require fast people. Further, I require someone who races better than they train. It’s infrequent to find the people who compete—and from get-go—they rise two levels. But they’re the ones.”
To these athletes, he likens Formula One cars; high-maintenance and high-performance vehicles, capable of sheer brilliance if everything goes right.
“India has the same area as Europe, yet we only manage to have 20 competitions within a year,” he says. “We require far more. There should be weekly competitions in every district. This does not require a big investment – the goodwill of a few dedicated individuals suffices.”
With a complete overhaul required on how federation deal with competitions, the structure should initiate at the location. Convenience cannot be prioritised, as only time-efficient tracks and facilities can aid in enhancing performance. Mainstream meets need to be held at tracks that are known for fast times, and javelin pitches that are known for good throws need to be used.
“Everyone strives to set personal bests, but with the amount of headwinds and poor tracks available, it is practically impossible to run,” he rhetorically shares. “The way things are done requires change.”
Hillier is still aiming to build an ever-present foundation to set the stage for preferred outcome in the long run, as the objective should not only be identifying the next under-20 sensation but also fostering an environment where consistently identifying new star athletes can be anticipated.
“I don’t want someone good for one season,” he says. “I want someone like Jyothi, who can dominate for eight years.”
He’s a man that single-handedly can invent or create a new sport in a month. And with his blend of discipline, mentality, plus compassion, it seems Hillier could become the long awaited hope for Indian athletics.