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Brave runs, tales of heartbreak
NEW DELHI: India’s first claim to Olympic athletics fame is somewhat shrouded in the mists of time.
NEW DELHI: India’s first claim to Olympic athletics fame is somewhat shrouded in the mists of time.
Norman Pritchard, born in Kolkata into a family said to have been engaged in the jute business, was regarded as the best athlete in British-ruled India in the final decade of 1800s. He went to London and qualified in the British championships to be included in the Great Britain side for the 1900 Paris Games.
Pritchard won silver in the 200m, clocking 22.8 seconds, and in the 200m hurdles (25.9 secs). His talent wasn’t confined to the track, which had made him the first India-born athlete in the Olympics, and first medallist from Asia. He went to Hollywood, changed his name to Norman Trevor, and became a silent era star of the 1920s until his death barely into his 50s.
Though there was some uncertainty, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has credited the medals to India.
DEDICATED ATHLETES
Although 116 years on, India awaits an Olympic athletic medal, after a series of near misses, it was a story of dedication in the 1960s and 1970s that made the nation a force in Asia. Milkha Singh missing out on a bronze by 1/10th of a second in the 400m at Rome in 1960 and PT Usha suffering a similar fate 24 years later in Los Angeles in the 400m hurdles, by 1/100th of a second are well chronicled.
But the 1948 London Games is not that well publicised. A newly independent India’s medal hopes rested on 19-year-old triple jumper Henry Rebello. Forced into sports at school, he was in such good form that experts predicted even gold.
COSTLY ERROR
But a hamstring injury during his first try dashed his hopes. Rebello was on top of his mark when asked to wait for a medals ceremony to end. London was cold and wet, and given the go, the youngster took off without warming up again, leading to the injury.
His only attempt (14.65m) was still the fifth best and put him in the final, but it was over. Rebello returned home and became an Indian Air Force officer, choosing career over athletics.
Milkha was the leading light among the rich athletic talent that emerged from Punjab in the 1950s and 60s.
Sturdy build and the healthy lifestyle of a farming background helped, but Army made the difference, says JS Saini, former national coach who has been involved with Indian athletics since the 1960s.
“About 50 % of athletes came from the Army then, they had a strong system,” he says. Nurturing athletes started from the unit level with meets going up to command level grooming them. “Now, Army has gone to a centralised set up.”
CULTURAL EXCHANGES
Another advantage in the 1960s and 70s was athletes training and competing abroad under the cultural exchange programme close to major Games.
“And all our athletes have done well in their second Olympics. Milkha went to Melbourne in 1956, did well in Rome. Gurbachan Singh Randhawa went to Rome, but won the 1962 Asian Games decathlon and came fifth in the 110m hurdles at Tokyo (1964). It was the same with PT Usha.”
Those days, Indian athletes reserved their best for major meets. The ‘Flying Sikh’ broke the Games record in Rome, having won several races heading to the Olympics. There are conflicting accounts whether he led during the race, but his rise from the trauma of Partition sent a nation into mourning after the medal miss.
“They were prepared like that,” Saini said about setting personal bests in Olympics then. Shivnath Singh had just switched to marathon but came an impressive 11th in the 1976 Montreal Games. Lacking a strong finish, Shivnath was asked to switch to road. “At the trials in Patiala, it was very hot in June, so we made him run at 4 am. I used to wake him up at that time for 15 days for the body to get used to it.”
Shivnath’s national record of 2:12 set in 1978 still stands. “Shivnath was with the leading pack till the 35 km mark (in Montreal). He had shin pain, and we had given him electric treatment, but it flared up.”
Hari Chand, another great distance runner of the 1970s, once joked that coming from rural Punjab, he used to chase rabbits all day as a boy, and they would tire and stop. That stamina stood out when he won the 5,000-10,000 double at the 1978 Asian Games.
In Montreal, running barefoot with only tape stuck to ease the pain while pounding the synthetic track, Chand set a national record in 10,000m that stood for 32 years. He came 10th in Moscow in 1980.
FRONT-RUNNING
Sriram Singh’s front-running in the 800m final was the other high point in Montreal, his pace dragging Cuba’s Alberto Juantorena to victory in world record time. Sriram Singh’s 1:45.77 is still the national record.
His personal coach Ilyas Babar, who was a venerated figure in Indian athletics, was not part of the squad but was still taken to Montreal to guide Sriram Singh.
India has entered a record number of athletes for Rio, but Saini said: “These people get satisfaction from qualification. The most difficult thing is to help them peak again at the Games.”
