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Gavit’s prize: An astonishing late spurt and a dream fulfilled
The gold medal in the 100m T47 with a Games record timing of 10.71s, was the first by an Indian male in para athletics at the CWG
Mumbai: In 2017, when Vaijnath Kale spoke with Dilip Gavit’s parents about taking the boy to Nashik with him to provide a better life, his parents, despite initial reluctance, clearly conveyed one thing.
“We can’t give you even one rupee,” Kale recalled them saying during the chat. “I said, don’t worry, I’m not expecting anything. I will take care of him.”
On Wednesday evening at Glasgow’s Scotstoun Stadium, after crossing the finish line with an astonishing late kick and flashing his name bib to the cameras as the men’s 100m T47 Commonwealth Games champion, Gavit didn’t care much about stopping for customary photos or congratulatory pats. He dashed off towards the stands, his eyes solely fixated on finding one face in the crowd.
Kale, his coach and “a second father” — as Gavit puts it — was right there, lifting his trainee and “adopted son” after a tight embrace.
“It’s only because of him that I am here today,” Gavit told HT from Glasgow. “And that I have this medal.”
That medal, a gold with a Games record timing of 10.71s, was the first by an Indian male in para athletics at the CWG and the third for the contingent in Glasgow. The 23-year-old from Maharashtra was joined by Kerala’s Mohammed Basil as a silver medallist with a timing of 10.83s in a memorable 1-2 podium finish for the country.
Gavit had been quietly determined of a 1-2 outcome before the race, but when the primary 400m runner was the 1, it brought out unusually animated celebrations from him.
“The moment and medal made it more special, because this is my first major gold medal in 100m,” Gavit said. “I felt ecstatic.”
“I had goosebumps,” Kale said.
Gavit and Kale share more than just similar sentiments and an athlete-coach relationship.
Born in Toran Dongari, a tribal hamlet near Nashik in rural Maharashtra, Gavit was one of six sons in a small-time farming family barely managing to make ends meet. At age five, a fall from a tree severely injured his right arm, which had to be amputated due to lack of proper medical treatment.
The kid’s disability meant he couldn’t contribute much to the family in their tiny farm. He loved playing kho-kho, and running for fun.
It was during one such fun run in his village’s school that Kale, a former national-level athlete, spotted him. Gavit was not even a teen, and all Kale, who ran an athletics academy in Nashik, had in mind then was to give him some purpose in life.
“He had been through a lot of hardships. I just wanted to get him out of it,” Kale told HT.
Although his parents were initially apprehensive about Kale’s offer, the kid himself wasn’t.
“From the start, after my accident, I wanted to get out of the village and try and do something worthwhile in life,” Gavit said.
And off he went, into a new life where Kale became more than a well-wisher.
Besides training elite athletes at his academy, Kale also has five athletes with physical disabilities including Gavit who are his “adopted kids”. He takes care of their stay — they live in a flat adjacent to his — and diet. His wife contributes in aspects like education and nutrition. He simultaneously runs a small construction business from which he manages funds for all this, without external support.
“As a former national athlete, I had some unfulfilled dreams,” Kale, a father of two, said. “I remain passionately mad about my sport. Now, I’m living my dreams through these kids.”
Gavit’s dreams would soon take shape, even though he didn’t know it in as many terms back then.
“When I was training with sir, I didn’t even know what para athletics was,” Gavit said. “He trained me like an able-bodied athlete. And that has shaped my mindset.”
Gavit began competing in age-group state and national meets with able-bodied athletes, and also won a few medals. He was part of Maharashtra’s bronze medal-winning 4x400m relay team at the 2019 Khelo India Youth Games
“After winning medals in able-bodied competitions, when sir told me about para athletics, and then put me in it, I thought I’ll win everything in it. I found it to be much easier,” Gavit said.
Gavit won gold in 400m T47 (for athletes with unilateral arm impairment) at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games in 2023, and a foul ruled him out of the 100m final. He made the 2024 Paris Paralympics final in 400m, but with the Glasgow programme dropping the distance, he had to turn to 100m.
After the Asian Games trials (he will compete in both events in Japan), Gavit trained exclusively for the shorter sprint, where his late surge gave him a finish to savour. And gave India, with 21-year-old Basil winning his first international medal, a gold-silver double.
“Before the race, my mindset was to speed up in the last stretch. And that whatever happens, I have to win gold for my country and see the Tricolour go high,” said Gavit.
