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12,
2004
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P. T. Usha writes
P. T. Usha is the original track queen of India. She reaped a memorable five-medal haul in the Seoul Asian Games in 1986, though she missed an Olympic medal at Los Angeles in 1984 by a whisker. In 1980 at Moscow, I was the youngest and the smallest participant in the Olympics. At the age of 16, I took part in the games with fear, yet brimming with confidence. For the first time, I saw a giant Olympic stadium with synthetic tracks, modern equipment, multi-gym facilities, huge, gigantic sports persons with rippling muscles. Nearly 20 days before the start of the Olympics, our team reached the Soviet capital of Moscow. What I saw and experienced there was totally new to me. For the first time, I saw the inside of an aircraft, and for the first time, I experienced the comfort of an air-conditioned room, and choice dishes of food, though not of my palate.
During the flight itself, I got a “bitter taste” of the food I was going to experience in the next few days in Moscow. To cut the story short, during my stay in Moscow, I survived on fruits, half-cooked rice and baked potatoes. In the Olympic village, I felt extreme loneliness. Though I had another woman athlete, Geetha Zutshi, for company, I felt uncomfortable because of the language problem as I spoke no Hindi. On the competitive arena too, many things were strange to me as it was for the first time that I was running on a synthetic track, wearing sports shoes with nail spikes. With every stride, I felt that my head was spinning and my entire body was feeling with some kind of uneasiness. And every day after practice, I used to get headache. Slowly, I got accustomed to all my uneasiness as I prepared myself for the competition. When the day came for the heats of the 100 metres, I was a bit scared, though I had prepared well to run the heats. I got off the blocks very fast, and nobody could catch up with me at least up to the 20 metres. After that, everybody overtook me and I finished the race at the 7th place. That was my first run in an Olympics. The same story repeated in the 200-mtr race too. In 1984 at Los Angeles, the experience was different. Practice made me face adversities with confidence. I had gone to Los Angeles after a lot of preparation. I had better concentration level, speed, endurance and strength. But the only problem was that I started practising the 400-mtr hurdles very late. During my school days, I used to run the hurdles races and was the national champion too. Earlier I used to run the 100 and 200-mtr races. However, my coach O.M. Nambiar told me that I had a better chance in the 400 metres, and he started training me in this event. When I became a good runner in the 400 metres and won the gold in the ATF meet in Kuwait in 1983, he shifted my event to the 400-mtr hurdles. Initially, it was very difficult to train in the 400 metres hurdles. But slowly, I gained full confidence and started running the 400-mtr hurdles race with assurance. I had a good stride pattern but my clearance of hurdles was not up to the mark. My problem was that there was nobody to give me tough competition within India, and therefore, I missed the competitive flavour. My first 400-mtr hurdles race itself had kicked up a big controversy. I entered my name under the AAFI banner for an Inter-State meet at the Jawahralal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. My home state Kerala had two entries—Asian record holder M.D. Valsamma and Amina. And there were six other runners from various other states. And it was the Olympic selection trials too. When the day of the race arrived, I started warming-up and entered the competition arena And at the starting point, I saw a strange gathering of my fellow-runners who were sitting on the track, in a visibly agitated mood. Their demand was that I should not participate in the meet and my name should be withdrawn from the list. Even though my name was there in the entry list of the AAFI, the other athletes threatened to pull out if I competed. Then AAFI secretary V.K. Verma was also in an agitated mood. He told Valsamma’s coach Kannan Kutty that “Usha would run even if you people boycotted the race”. Mr Verma was very adamant on this issue. But this hold up was upsetting the conduct of other track and field events. I didn’t want to be projected as a spoil sport, and I convinced Mr Verma that I should opt out as I could still compete in the same event, 15 days later, in the Open Nationals at Bombay. There, my employers Indian Railways, put my name on top, though I had not taken part in the Inter-Railway Championship. Valsamma’s was the second name. Because of the Delhi episode, news spread about our “rivalry”, which attracted a huge crowd for an athletic event in the cricket-crazy city of Bombay (now Mumbai). The track was made of clay, with a sprinkling of grass here and there. It meant that the track was not in proper condition. Incidentally, the Open Nationals was the second trials for the Olympic Games, though it was my first in the 400-mtr hurdles. The packed stadium was expecting a thrilling race, with good competition from my other fellow runners. Though I checked the last hurdle, I still finished the race in 58.2 seconds on the mud track, which broke the Asian record of M.D. Valsamma, with a difference of at least 20 meters. And after 15 days, there was a final chance for the probables for qualifying for the Olympics, in New Delhi. I clocked 55.70 seconds in Delhi and achieved “A” grade qualification norm for the Olympics. Yet again, I won without encountering much opposition. From that day onwards, people started expecting an Olympic medal from me. I reached Los Angeles 20 days before the competition to get acclimatised with the conditions there and to get adjusted to the time zone. I wanted to fulfil the dream of winning an Olympic medal from athletics. I was confident that I would put up a good show in the 400-mtr hurdles though I had experienced difficulty with the 12.5 hours difference in the time variations. Slowly I got accustomed to the conditions, and after a week, I participated in a pre-Olympic competition at Inglewood (California). I won the gold medal by clocking 55.8 seconds, beating the reigning American champion and other participants from various countries. I was now confident that I was capable of winning an Olympic medal if I got a good start, and the correct rhythm. My preparations were progressing as planned, and when the day arrived to run in the Olympic heats, I was full of confidence and finished second behind American champion Judy Brown with a time of 56.8 secs, as I checked the last hurdle. The very next day, I clocked first in the semi-final, beating Judy Brown with a time of 55.54 sec. The following day was a rest day, and I cannot forget that day in my life. Every Indian who came to me wanted me to win the coveted Olympic medal for the country. The international media too wanted interviews from me. They were wondering how could an Indian girl get her way into the finals by beating an American champion! Pressure was mounting on me and I was tensed up a little. I recollected my race in the semifinal and the mistakes I committed. Coach Nambiar and I dissected the race thoroughly. He pointed out that during the first three hurdles, I ran a very slow race, especially on the first hurdle, and I would have to rectify this mistake in the final. I firmed up my mind, and was determined to do well. I was put on the fifth lane in the final, got off the blocks fast, and finished fourth, missing the bonze by 1/100th of a second, clocking 55.42 seconds. After the race, I analysed my performance, and found out that I ran the first hurdle very slow, but picked up speed after the fifth hurdle and the race got accelerated thereafter. By the 9th and 10th hurdles, all the first four front runners were on even keel and finished the race in a photo finish. My name was announced as the bronze medallist. After that, there was a big silence. I could see the finishing of my race in the giant television screen inside the stadium, several times. Even now, I can’t believe that I came fourth. After 30 minutes, the result was announced. I was fourth. I was shattered, as the one thing I was sure of was that my leg was in front and even if I had fallen, I would have won a medal. I missed an Olympic medal because of lack of experience. I still believe that I had a lot of talent, but did not receive the right kind of exposure at the right time. Had I participated in meets abroad regularly, I could have won an Olympic medal at Los Angeles. I have always felt that we Indians have the talent. But we have to spot the talent at the right age and nourish them with modern facilities. Then only we can hope to win an Olympic medal. And as far as Athens is concerned, Anju Bobby George is our best bet for a medal in athletics. Her World No. 5 ranking in long jump might suggest a sure medal. But her recent form does not give out much hope. Yet, Anju is by far the best athlete that we can think of for a medal at the Olympics in a long, long time. Last year, there were only two marks above 7 metres in women’s long jump, but this year there are already four, one by Elva Goulbourne of Jamaica and the other by Miss Simajiyana, Tatyana Lebedeva and Kotova of Russia. And of course Marion Jones of the US, who has cleared 7.13 metres with the aid of wind. Anju’s best so far has been a wind-aided 6.83m at Eugene. If Marion Jones competes in Athens, she should be a sure medal prospect. Apart from her, world No. 1 Tatyana Kotova, and World triple jump champion Tatyana Lebedeva should be the other two main contenders for the medals. World champion Eunice Barber has had apparent injury problems and might not be a force this time. From the rest, Elva Goulbourne, who won the 2002 Commonwealth Games gold, and world heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft, Italian Fiona May and US-based Grace Upshaw, if she competes in the long jump, could be the other main medal contenders. If Anju can jump around 6.90m metres, she could be in with a great chance to bring India’s first athletics medal from the Olympics. Her toughest test will be the qualification round itself. The last Olympics had distances of 6.99 (gold), 6.92 (silver) and 6.92 (bronze). Neelam J. Singh in discuss is another distant medal prospect. She was a finalist in the World Championships in Paris last year and she could well make it to the final this time also. Above 60 metres, it will be difficult for Neelam to qualify for the final. Her 58.91 in Manila on July 1, thus causes concern. For that matter, the wildly swinging performance levels of the other two discus throwers, Seema Antil and Harwant Kaur, should be viewed with concern, if not suspicion. Thus, despite her National record of 64.64m at Chennai, I do not consider Seema Antil as a possible candidate for the final in Athens. The less said about Harwant Kaur the better. The women’s 4x400 were the poorest qualifiers for the final in Sydney 2000 with a time of 3:26.05. At the Paris World Championships, they posted a time of 3:29.40 though our Colombo Asian Grand Prix performance of 3:27.35 holds out promise, provided the girls are genuinely running in the 51-52-second range. Already, there are signs that individually, the girls have come down from their top level of 51.05 and 51.30 to 53-second range and the team has clocked 3:31 in the last Asian Grand Prix meet in Manila. Unless the team clocks below 3:27, there will be no chance of a place in the final. Vikas Gowda (discus) might have an outside chance of figuring in the final. Anything below 63 metres will be almost impossible to get a place in the final. He has a season best of 64.35 and that is very promising. The other discus thrower, Anil Kumar does not inspire confidence when we take his past performances into consideration. Heptathlete J.J. Shobha’s 6211 points in New Delhi in March gives her a place in the top 12 in the world this season. She could have been among the top 12 in Sydney with that kind of score and among top six in the World Championships. The big question is, will Shobha be able to repeat her performance in Athens? Difficult, but not impossible, if we assume that performances at home were absolutely genuine. We should not hope anything other than
token participation in Athens from the rest of the contingent.
Shot putter Bahadur Singh has already come down from his high of
20.40m in Ukraine to 19.45m in Chennai. The men’s 4x400m relay
team might be making it to the top 16 in the world and thus
qualifying for the Games. It is difficult to imagine that the
team would be doing anything better than running the opening
round in Athens.
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Much
hype, little hope
Accountability is rarely fixed. None is taken to task for the sporting debacle. A country of a billion-plus people not winning even a bronze (save for Atlanta and Sydney) is a shameful act! The story may not be very different in Athens, either If wishes were horses, India would have ridden the Olympic course high. But rare has been the occasion when India’s Olympic hopes have been realised. A rosy picture is painted before every Olympic outing, but Indians end up with sackcloth and ashes. After the debacle, the blame game begins. Sob stories are spun, and excuses are trotted out. And life goes on... But the top brass of Indian sports swear that the 2004 Athens Olympics would be different. A handful of athletes have raised visions of medals. A lot of money and manpower have been invested on a chosen few to chisel them into champion material. But will they deliver on the Olympic stage in Greece during the fortnight-long sports spectacle? The pre-Olympic hype and hope suggest that the 76-member Indian contingent would spring a surprise or two in Athens. Archery, athletics, shooting, tennis, wrestling and women’s weightlifting are some of the disciplines in which India are fielding medal hopes. India do not stand much of a chance in the rest of the 14 disciplines in which sportspersons have qualified. Indian athletes have rarely lived up to their promise and potential at the Olympics, though the officials put up a brave front, after every flop show. This time, too, the Olympic veterans have dusted out their blazers and suits from the closet to embark on their Olympic odyssey. The same old, familiar, weather-beaten faces, who have lost count of the “international caps” they have donned over the decades, are once again in the fray for “selection”. It is of little concern to them whether India wins an Olympic medal or not. They leave such mundane matters to be taken care of by the athletes and their coaches. Their credo is: Participation is everything. Winning is not! It was so long ago that India last won an Olympic gold — in hockey at Moscow in 1980. The team led by Vasudevan Bhaskaran overcame Spain in the title clash to mount the golden throne for the first time since Tokyo, 1964. Many of the top hockey-playing nations had kept away from Moscow following the US-led boycott by Western countries over the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. Though the hockey gold lacked sheen, it was an Olympic gold, nevertheless. The hockey team hasn’t won a medal of any hue after Moscow. And this fact rankles. The team has been hovering on the fringe, struggling to avoid a bottom finish. India haven’t made great strides in other sports disciplines either. The odd bronze won by tennis ace Leander Paes (Atlanta, 1996) and weightlifter Karnam Malleswari (Sydney, 2000) were exceptions. Rosy predictions over India’s prospects have always come unstuck. Those who produce career-best performances in domestic competitions and selection trials come a cropper in the Olympic arena. The crores spent on training and exposure of athletes, spanning from Ukraine, Kiev, Belarus, to Arizona and other such places go down the Olympic drain in a flash. Accountability is rarely fixed. None is taken to task for the sporting debacle. A country of a billion-plus people not winning even a bronze (save for Atlanta and Sydney) is a shameful act! The story may not be very different in Athens, either. Though the hockey team always evokes hope, they keep flopping in the big matches. Like in the past, India has pinned great hopes on the hockey team this time too. Never mind that chief coach Rajinder Singh was sacked barely 21 days before the Olympics. German coach Gerhard Rach has been given the reins. He will be assisted by Oliver Kurtz (Germany) and former Indian Olympian Jagbir Singh. Do they have a magic wand to spring a pleasant surprise in such a short span? Time will tell. The hockey team had been mired in controversy when top players like Dhanraj Pillay and Baljit Singh Dhillon were kept out of the coaching camps. Pillay, who deserved to hold the captaincy baton of the Olympic squad, was sidelined like an outcast. The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) relented only when the media highlighted the players’ plight. The ace forward, along with Dhillon, are back in the Olympic squad. The IHF has picked the best available talent, despite the hiccups. The ball is now in the players’ turf. The coaches have to perform too. Great hopes have been placed on long jumper Anju Bobby George and the tennis duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Anju, who won a bronze medal in the World Championship in Paris last year, have been training with single-minded passion to realise her Olympic dream. She has trained hard, and lakhs have been spent to perfect her striding skills. She is looking for that perfect leap to hit the pay dirt at Athens. But she has to kick up dust at seven metres plus to win an Olympic medal. She hasn’t done that as yet, not in competitions. Her best has been 6.83 metres, and in the run-up to the Olympics, she hasn’t really improved her performance. Anju can pick up a medal only if she comes up with an extraordinary jump. But she is capable, and the country is waiting for her to make that big, winning leap. Or else, jumpers ranked ahead of Anju should flop. Anju is confident. She feels just one good leap would put her on the medal course. The Commonwealth and Asian Games medallist has got the stuff to click. But she has to battle it out with champions like Marion Jones, Tatyana Lebedeva, Tatyana Kotova and Eunice Barber, who have all achieved distances of seven metres plus, to make it to the victory stand. Though India are fielding a 19-member athletics squad, including five men, the other athletes hold little hope. The likes of KM Beenamol and Neelam J. Singh are considered medal hopefuls. Beenamol’s form is suspect, as most of the last season she was laid up with a toe injury. Neelam can eye a discus medal only if she goes beyond 60 metres — a feat she hasn’t achieved till now. She was a finalist in the World Championship last year, which gave a boost to her ranking. Surprisingly, three women discus throwers have qualified for the Olympics, the others being Seema Antil and Harwant Kaur. And then there is the women’s relay team, ranked 12th till the other day. Leander Peas and Mahesh Bhupathi have not played together for over two years, though they have been playing with different partners in the Grand Slam circuit. They have the experience to strike up perfect synergy quickly, which is very vital for their success. Athens may well see a golden act by Leander and Mahesh. With top professionals keeping away from Olympic tennis, Leander and Mahesh stand a better chance of winning a medal, only if they regain that old magic touch. The shooters have been producing fireworks in the recent past and India’s hopes have soared after Anjali Bhagwat’s entry into the challenge round at Sydney, 2000. Eight shooters have qualified this time. A couple of medals can be hauled if Anjali (air rifle) and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (double trap) hit the mark without fail. The young Abhinav Bindra had come on the scene with great promise, but has not created ripples with his air rifle for quite some time now. Mansher Singh and Manavjit Singh (trap) also fancy their chances, but they will have to shoot a lot better than they have been doing lately to get their act right at Athens. Karnam Malleswari will be looking to play an encore — perhaps even try to better her bronze show at Sydney — in women’s weightlifting. She has been entered in the 63kg class, but has not shown her best form lately. She was out of competition after Sydney to take time out for motherhood and family. Now that she is back in the fray, she promises a medal. The seasoned Kunjarani Devi is another weighty medal hope. She will be striving to prove a point, and erase the painful memory of not being selected for Sydney. Kunjarani has the potential to win a medal in the 48kg. She is no stranger to the big stage, being a former world champion herself, and having finished fifth in the last World Championship, where Malleswari had ended up 12th. The names of wrestlers Palvinder Singh Cheema (super heavyweight freestyle) and Mukesh Khatri (Greco-Roman) are being touted as medal prospects, but the Wrestling Federation of India has been a house divided, and how the grapplers would fare is a matter of speculation. Other Asian countries are powerhouses in wrestling, and the Indian grapplers would have a difficult job on hand. The Indian archers may well turn out to be a surprise package. If Archery Association of India president Vijay Kumar Malhotra is to be believed, “we stand a very good chance of winning a medal in archery”. India, along with world champions Korea and Ukraine, are the three countries who have secured qualifying berths in both the men’s and women’s teams. The Indian teams achieved this feat during the World Championship in New York in July. India will be concentrating on the team event as they feel that they are as good as the rest, save Korea. An Olympic medal
brings along a lot of cash incentives and perks, and Indian athletes
have every reason to go out and do their best. Paes and Malleswari
raked in a few lakhs in a matter of hours on their triumphant return
from the Olympics. Will they repeat their acts? Or will new talents
emerge? Athens may make
or break new ground for Indian sports. As of now, we stand on Ground
Zero.
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Abhinav,
Manavjit keen to hit bull’s-eye
India’s contingent for the Athens Olympics includes several promising players from North India. Sports lovers from the region have pinned hopes on these players to bring India the much-desired medal. There is one Athens-bound sportsperson from Chandigarh, Abhinav Bindra. Abhinav, who is yet to complete 22 years, was the first to qualify for the Olympics two years ago. This gifted air rifle shooter poses a threat to world-class rifle shooters. Abhinav, who has studied in Chandigarh, has been training for the past almost one year in the USA and has played tournaments abroad. He took part in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 but missed the final round by one point. Abhinav was initiated into shooting by his sports-loving father A.S. Bindra. He was just 10 years old when he first visited a shooting range. Born on September 28, 1982, in Dehra Dun, Abhinav took to shooting when his father shifted to the city. All these years, Abhinav has worked hard and remained totally devoted to shooting while other boys partied and made merry. He has been inspired by his grandfather, the late Col Bir Singh, a renowned hockey player who played with Dhyan Chand in pre-Partition days. Abhinav shot 590 out of 600, six points short of his best at the World Cup in Munich, 2002. China’s Cai Yalin shot 102.4 after his qualifying round score of 594 to take the gold with a total of 696.4, which was an Olympic record. But then luck deserted Abhinav, who failed to qualify by just one point for the final of the men’s 10-metre air rifle event, eventually finishing joint 11th out of 47 contestants in the Sydney Olympics. His goal is the same as it was in the last Olympics — to bring the gold for India in Athens. His former coach, Hungarian Laszlo Szucsak, had also once predicted that this boy was capable of winning the gold. For Abhinav, the D-Day(s) are August 14 and 15, when the men’s air rifle event will be held. In shooting, we have Manavjit Sandhu of Ferozepore, who will compete in the trap event (clay pigeon). Manavjit has already given a remarkable performance this year in various international meets. He faces stiff competition from Michael Diamond of Australia, Palealo of Italy, Bendrick and Ian Peel. Before leaving for Athens, he said he had the guts to prove his mettle and perform to the optimum. Patiala-based wrestler Palwinder Cheema is a medal hope in the 120kg-plus category. He is from a family of renowned wrestlers. His grandfather, Kesar Singh, was Rustam-e-Hind and his father, Sukhchain, is a former international wrestler. His father said after the 2002 Busan Asiad Palwinder had been training hard with the sole aim of bringing laurels for India in Athens. Sukhchain said India had never won any gold in wrestling and a lot depended on the draw. He said with firm conviction that this 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medallist was all set to bring glory to his state and the country. There are distinguished hockey players from Punjab, like Baljit Dhillon and Gagan Ajit Singh in the 16-member team. India's forward Deepak Thakur, who belongs to Una, will also be an asset to the team. Then we have the athletes — Neelam J. Singh, Seema Antil, Anil Kumar, Bahadur Singh, Harwant Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur and Manjit Kaur—who could also be a force to reckon with. The other medal hopes are Karnam Malleswari of Haryana, a Sydney Olympics bronze medalist in weightlifting, who might repeat or improve her previous performance. Now a mother, Malleswari has trained very hard and is capable of springing a surprise in Athens. Gurjit Singh of
Punjab is competing in the triple jump, while Mansher Singh of Delhi
is vying for a medal in shooting. Then there are other freestyle
wrestlers from the northern region, namely
Sushil Kumar (60 kg), Anil Chaudhary (85 kg), Sujit Mann
(74 kg), Ramesh Kumar (66
kg) Yogeshwar Dutt (55 kg), besides
Greco-Roman wrestler Mukesh Khatri (55 kg). Mr Abhey Singh
Chautala, President of the Haryana Olympic Association, recently
claimed that a majority of athletes going to Athens belong to Haryana.
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Holding
champions together
The walls of Nirmal Milkha Singh’s room tell the tale of her tribulation. Splashed all across its concrete are photo frames that burst into life every now and then. Suddenly glorious images from the history of world sport flash before our eyes, and we begin to wonder what this family of champions might have done to deserve so much of celebrity. And how, at the end of days, the woman of this house must have ensured that her legendary partner Milkha Singh and her ever more legendary son Jeev Milkha Singh awake better champions with the dawn of every day. The message does not take too long to travel as we get into an intimate conversation with Nirmal, who has courted abundant fame not only as wife and mother, but as a person of sports herself. “Humility runs in our family, and humility is all one needs to remain grounded despite the glamour of success. We have literally risen from the ashes. Milkha’s struggle against the odds is legendary just as his glory at the Rome Olympics is. He used to steal time from job to practice at the Sukhna Lake stretch when he was posted in Chandigarh. I used to travel in third class train compartments and almost always sleep in front of the toilet area while on my way to captain the Indian volleyball team in international tournaments. Life was never a bed of roses for us…” says the lady rather pensively, as she goes further down the memory lane. Born into a wealthy family at Shekhupura near Lahore, Nirmal still remembers the pangs of Partition. Her father was an advocate in those days, and she lived in a huge 14-room mansion. But soon after the cataclysmic event of Partition, nothing really remained, expect the urge to strive, seek and never yield. With struggle in her roots, she could easily teach her children how to live with thorns and how to overcome them to bring home the rose. “All my children have been masters of their respective games just as Milkha and myself. But they have also learnt to keep their heads firmly on their shoulders. Perhaps I have done a good job as a mother,” says the lady, as the reflective wrinkles of her face suddenly turn jovial. That’s the way life has been for the Milkhas — sometimes an affair with tribulations; sometimes a date with travails. Not too long before, Nirmal quite miraculously survived a lethal brain tumour. She recounts with horror, “God’s ways are strange. He can turn the tide in no time. I still remember it was 1995, a year after I retired as Director Sports, Chandigarh following a decade long service. Considerably free, I began playing golf, but my sessions at the Chandigarh Golf Club were cut short by a horrible discovery of a tumour in my brain. What followed is the darkest chapter in the history of our family. I was traveling to the US for treatment on the insistence of my daughter Mona, who is a doctor. As the aeroplane gained height, my senses gave way and I collapsed only to get into a coma.” From there, Nirmal believes, God took care of her. There was a neurosurgeon on board, and he was carrying all life saving devices which were meant for another patient of his, but were finally used to save Nirmal while on board. As soon as she landed in the US, she was taken into the emergency care unit. The major operation followed, in which the experts had to face the challenge of removing the tumour that precariously touched the sensitive pituitary gland. And while all this happened, there was the strain of finances. Remembers Nirmal: “The operation was to cost $ 40,000 and we did not have that kind of money. But as God would have it, Jeev won $ 60,000 in a tournament at Kaula Lumpur just four days before the operation. The money went into clearing the costs, and I got my second birth.” It is only after this operation that Nirmal began taking things a little less strenuously. Until then, she had always been an equal of her partner. “In all terms,” she says, “The surrender of the Arjuna Award was also a collective decision. Someone who brought laurels to India as early as the 1960s was considered for the Arjuna Award after ages. I never quite understood the logic behind presenting a Padma Shri with an Arjuna Award. So I persuaded Milkha to relinquish it.” Even today Nirmal stands behind each one of Milkha’s moves, as she recalls how they got married: “We met twice, during a sports meet at Ceylon and later in Chandigarh when he was posted as Deputy Director, Sports, Punjab and I joined as Assistant Director. Our marriage was a handiwork of providence. I loved his honesty. He was/is a sportsman from every drop of his blood.” But Nirmal was not comfortable with some of Milkha’s ways. She had vowed she would turn a rustic Punjabi into a sophisticated Sikh. “He was bad at spellings, so I gave him dictations. Travel had made him worldly wise, but he needed to learn the art of sophistication. I became the interpreter for his thoughts. Even today, he voices his opinion and I articulate it for him,” says the Flying Sikh’s better half, who herself rose to a flying start as Director Sports, UT. The Sector 42 Sports Complex and the Tennis Courts are her major contributions to the sports treasures of Chandigarh. But Nirmal never quite flaunts her achievements, nor those of her children who have always been at the top of their game. Her eldest daughter
Aleeza was an inter-varsity swimming champion; her daughter Mona was a
national swimming champion; her son Jeev is a celebrated golfer. But
in the root of all their achievements is “humility”, Nirmal’s
best treasure in the world!
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Milkha
Singh writes
Milkha Singh ‘flew’ on the athletic tracks of India and the world in the fifties and the sixties, as no Indian had done before, or ever after, to earn the epithet “Flying Sikh”. Even now when I recall that moment, a sense of non-fulfilment drives me to tears. Two sorrowful events will always remain with me: one is Partition, in which my parents and other relatives were butchered, and the other is the race in Rome, where through my own fault I missed winning the gold for my country The 400 metres race
at the 1960 Rome Olympics set a record that is impossible to beat.
Four of the six final runners broke the Olympic record and the
remaining two equalled it!
Before Rome, a preparatory race was held in London between England and France. We watched this competition, sitting in the gallery of the stadium. In the 400-metre race, a black athlete from France clocked an excellent 45.9 seconds. Experts saw him as a medal prospect. His timing made me apprehensive because my own in the 400 metres had always been 46 seconds or above. I had never run a race with Abdul Saye, the French runner. When the French team learnt that the Indian Olympic team, too, was in town, they sent me an invitation to run races in France. These races were to be held after a week. I gladly accepted the invitation and reached the venue with my manager, Mr Parera. Many spectators knew me by name. Reputed athletes from England, Jamaica, Kenya and the West Indies were running in that contest. I had beaten most of them in other countries. But Abdul Saye posed a new challenge to me. I felt that a real contest was on the cards. In earlier races, I had beaten the runner-up by a margin of five or seven yards. Such a difference seemed impossible that day. The race was being telecast live. Mr Parera told me in his broken Hindustani, “Milkha Singh, you must beat Abdul Saye today”. I spent an hour warming myself up. When I stood at the starting point, I presented a strange spectacle to the French audience. A Sikh was a rarity in that part of the world. Most of them had never seen one. They passed strange remarks about me. They were surprised to see a man wearing long hair, sporting a beard and wearing an iron bangle around his wrist. When the race began, I ran as fast as I could. It was a neck-and-neck race. I strained every nerve and won the race and created a new world record by clocking 45.8 seconds. The Olympic record was 45.9 seconds. I had beaten the record by 0.1 second. This became big news in the sports columns of newspapers all over the world. They printed my photographs and accounts of my record-breaking race. This was bad news for athletes who had returned timings equal to the Olympic record a few days earlier in London. Abdul Saye and his French fans also felt unhappy. People crowded around me and put questions to me regarding the Sikh religion and why I kept long hair. They enquired why I did not go in for a haircut and a shave and what was the significance of having a turban as headgear. When I returned to my hotel, I turned on the television and got to see how I had won the incredible race. Next day, the French papers carried my life story. I then went to London and on to Aldershot, where I joined my team. All of them were very happy to read about my great victory. After this, they came to believe that I would win the Rome Olympics, too. After a few days we flew to Rome. Teams from England and Australia also were travelling by the same plane. At Rome, I was allotted a separate room in the hotel so that too many visitors did not disturb me. The vast stadium contained many statues of famous sportsmen cut in alabaster. The President of Italy took the salute at the impressive march past. All stands were dotted with black and red umbrellas, so strong was the sunlight. The weather was as warm as in India. Still large crowds had turned up to cheer us. In due course, it was time for the 400-metre race. There were athletes from about 150 countries. I won one round and then another and then the third and so on. Thus qualifying in heat after heat, I reached the semifinals. By successive eliminations, now only 12 athletes were left in the field of the original 150. At every step, the top six were being screened. It was like removing cream from milk. I had built up stamina to run even two races in a day, that too against the world’s best. My stamina had won me many victories. But this superiority did not stand me in good stead here, for in Rome the semifinals and the finals had an interval of two days. In any case, I won the semifinal. That night, I felt nervous about the next trial. I felt dispirited. Next night, too, I kept pacing in my room to steady my nerves. Just then Mr Umrao Singh, President of the All-India Athletics Association, came to my room and took me out for stroll. He engaged me in a talk and took my mind off the next day’s competition. For a while, I forgot about the race and felt at ease. After showing me the beautiful city of Rome, he brought me back to my hotel at 10 p.m. Next morning, I went to the ground and did some gymnastics exercises. Other runners, too, were warming up. Each us looked at each other as a goat would at a lion. When the first call for 400 metres was made, the runners crossed the grassy lawn and went to the track. Wild clapping accompanied the entry of the teams. Those who had seen me in action during the past five or six days showered on me words of encouragement and good wishes. The draw of lanes did not favour me. I got the fifth lane, and was next to the German, second to the American, third to the Polish and fourth to the South African sprinters. Another German was in the sixth lane. He was the weakest runner and I could see him only. This was a disincentive. The starter shouted ‘‘On your marks’’. I set my knees to the starting line and offered obeisance to the ground and said, ‘‘O good earth, O kind and gracious heaven, you have been bestowing many a favour on me, I pray unto you once again to smile on my endeavour this day’’. I heaved a few sighs and bent my head. The starter shouted “set” and fired the gun. The competitors were off like a shot. I was ahead of them all. At the 250-metre mark, I was running perilously fast. I slowed down a bit to conserve energy for the last lap, which proved to be a fatal blunder. As I finished 300 metres, the three competitors steadily running behind me drew abreast and began to gain on me. The mistake that I committed at 250 metres would rankle in my heart till the end of my days. I could not wipe out the deficit of those six or seven yards on the last 100 metres, even though I gathered superhuman speed. Every great athlete knows that it is difficult to make up for the deficiency of even one yard when running with one’s equals. I desperately continued my effort to catch up with a least the runner in the third place, who I had beaten at the Commonwealth Games. But he was caught between the first two runners and that helped him a lot. We crossed the finishing line almost together. It was to be a photo finish and the announcements were held up till the films were washed and the results obtained. The suspense was excruciating. At last the result was announced. My error of judgement had dragged me down to the fourth place. But I had broken the world record. But others had made an even better showing. My hopes were dashed. The gold medal on which I had staked my life eluded me. Even now when I recall that moment, a sense of non-fulfilment drives me to tears. Two sorrowful events will always remain with me: one is Partition, in which my parents and other relatives were butchered, and the other is the race in Rome, where through my own fault I missed winning the gold for my country. I could not get over the shock of losing a race that I could have won. No one can stay at the peak forever. For years I had dominated the sports scene of the world and it was time to go while the going was good. I passed a few days immersed in sorrow. I did not want to return to India in this state of mind. I participated in competitions in London, Denmark, Sweden and Oslo. As I boarded the plane in London, I was gripped by fear and remorse with the thought that how would I show my face to my countrymen. I took to liquor for the first time to forget my sense of disappointment. I reached Bombay airport in a state of semi-drunkenness. The sun of my professional life had passed its zenith and was now on a downward gradient. Many mediapersons was present at the airport, but the old pomp and show of welcome and reception was conspicuous by is absence. In vain people tried to console me that though defeated, I had broken the world record. But my mistake continued to haunt me. Next day, when the news was flashed that Milkha Singh had decided to retire, it became the subject of comment in newspapers all over the world. Many friends and fans sent letters of regret over my decision. I could not say no to my kind well-wishers. I was told that I was not an individual named Milkha Singh fighting for private gain; I was the custodian of the honour of India in sports. I must continue to run for a few years more for the sake of my country. Friends said despite the defeat, I was still the hope of athletics in India. I was made to revoke my decision. After a few months’ “mourning’, I resumed practice. The 1962 Asian Games were held in Jakarta, where I won two gold medals and said goodbye to athletics. During my career, I ran 80 international races and won 77 of them, which in itself is a world record. In 1959, I was declared the best runner of the world and was given the HELMS world trophy by the USA. I wish to see and
pray that before my death an Indian athlete wins the Olympic gold
medal in the 400 metres, which I missed because of my own mistake. Or
was it destiny?
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The
Indians who go to the Olympics
THERE has been a migration of Indians in big numbers to Athens, venue of the Olympic Games. Some of them will be going to wear the national colours and exert themselves in various disciplines in the hope of eking out a medal or so. There will be others who will go to Athens to oversee, guide and coax the Indian gladiators, some others to attend meetings, few of them to shop and generally have a good time. The number of people going from India to Athens does not end here. There will be Central Government observers joined by observers from the State Governments. And in these days of personal coaches and other affects no one really knows what the number will be. And lest one forgets, there will also be families of the observers in some cases extending to families of secretaries who will be accompanying the official government observer. And while listing the categories of people going to Athens one must also remember those who have got invitations and still others joining the cultural delegation. These days Olympic Games means more than just a meeting of the sportsmen and sportswomen on the field of competition. It is in fact a big mela with a spice of politics and plenty of give and take in meetings. Indians of course have always managed to give a twist of their own to these four-year carnivals. For them Olympic Games means fun and games with participation and presence rather then performance the main agenda. And they give full expression to this participation. It really does not matter as to what the foreign exchange position is of the country. The numbers were as large even in the days when foreign exchange reserves were low. These days fortunately the country is better off and can afford to waste more money. The unfortunate aspect of this migration is the type of people going to the Olympics. One would not mind if those making the trip were going with the sole intention of learning the management of sport or had other connections with sporting disciplines. By and large the people making the journey, apart from those with genuine involvement in competition, are not always devoted to the promotional aspect of sport. The Central Government’s responsibility during the Olympics and other internationals is entirely to the competitors, the necessary coaches and other officials, a chef-de-mission, doctor and other important attachments. The Government pays for the lot of them and plus for the observer and of course the Minister who generally lend some importance to the contingent. For the rest it is up to the temporary migrants to foot the bill. What is overlooked here is that those going on State Government tickets also draw money from the central exchequer. The burden is always on the government. And selection of people representing State Governments need not always be on legitimate grounds. Those going may have very little to do with sport and if at all they do, it will only be superficial. To this day it is difficult to understand why India should crowd Olympic Games venues with so many people? The governments in the past and even today ask the federations to follow strict qualifying marks to ensure that only the right competitors make the journey. But there is no yardstick in the selection of people from the states. It is time the government came down heavily on these trips. There is no need for state governments to send observers. The observer appointed by the Central Government has a job to do and his report, if ever made and presented, should be good enough for the entire country to learn and digest. And there should also be some restriction on the number of honorary sports personalities imposed on the team by the Government. If one remembers, the Olympics at Sydney, one of the sportsperson present in the Indian camp was sent on the recommendation of the Minister. The person was a guest and not a competing athlete. This sort of largesse is totally uncalled for. There was also the
embarrassing instance of two sets of officials from contesting groups
for the control of the Indian Olympic Association in the Beijing Asian
Games. There was no need to make a public exhibition of our quarrels
and differences at home. And in Beijing, to make matters worse, there
was the presence of another personality who represented neither the
media nor the government but who was given deferential treatment by
the hosts. The government from their side must control the flow of
people from India to various Olympic Games at the official level and
ensure that those form a category outside of their own, are not
allowed to disturb the working of the chef-de-mission. The pressure on
the chef-de-mission is tremendous. The official has nearly always to
make arrangements for unwanted but important guests from India. It is
time that India stops overcrowding Olympic Games with superfluous
people.
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