Some memorable moments

Milkha Singh’s legend was penned in Rome Olympics. He would be remembered as the first Indian runner to make such an impact on the world stage.-PICS: THE HINDU PHOTO LIBRARY

A whole lot of excuses are readily available whenever someone brings up the subject of Indian athletics comparing so poorly with international standards. In such circumstances, one is tempted to recall, even at the cost of repetition, the outstanding efforts of some of the greatest athletes of Independent India in the Olympic Games, writes K. P. Mohan.

Thirty-two years after Sriram Singh ran the 800 metres final in the Montreal Olympics, India is searching for a male runner who will be able to emulate the outstanding Rajput. And we don’t have a male track athlete who is among the qualifiers for the Beijing Olympics!

Twenty-four years after P. T. Usha ran the final of the 400 metres hurdles in Los Angeles Olympics, India does not have a female track runner who has the distinction of entering an Olympic final. Yes, we had one female qualifier in the final last time in Athens, but that was in long jump, and we all know Anju George made us proud.

But we keep hearing about Indian athletics having taken great strides; having had several top-20 athletes and being poised to make an impact in the world of athletics.

A whole lot of excuses are readily available whenever someone brings up the subject of Indian athletics comparing so poorly with international standards. In such circumstances, one is tempted to recall, even at the cost of repetition, the outstanding efforts of some of the greatest athletes of Independent India in the Olympic Games. If we keep doing this every four years, it is only an attempt to show the huge difference in talent and dedication and to focus on the struggle these yesteryear athletes made in order to overcome primitive training facilities and lack of opportunities.

Independent India had its first taste of Olympics in the 1948 Games in London and the names that readily come to mind are that of triple jumper Henry Rebello and sprinter Eric Prabhakar.

Rebello, ranked fifth in the world in the pre-Olympic lists, with a 15.29, should have the distinction of being the first Indian athlete to qualify for the final in an Olympics but often he is forgotten. It was a most unfortunate Olympic debut for Rebello, for, as he prepared to take his first jump in the final after having qualified with 14.69, he was made to wait for about 30 minutes because of victory ceremonies. He pulled a muscle, in the cold conditions, on his run-up and there ended his Olympic dreams. He could have been a medal contender had he competed since the gold went for 15.40, silver 15.36 and bronze 15.02.

Long jumper Baldev Singh also made the final in the London Games. He was taken in as the 11th qualifier (6.99m) into the final. However, he did not compete in the final. It will ever remain a matter of debate whether Baldev should be ranked alongside Rebello as an Indian who made the final. Eric Prabhakar entered the quarterfinals of the 100 metres in London.

Helsinki in 1952 saw the redoubtable Lavy Pinto making the semfinals of both the 100 metres and 200 metres, a little-publicised, little-known fact in Indian athletics. He had timings of 10.9, 10.7 and 10.7 in the 100, and 21.7, 21.6 and 21.6 in the 200.

Milkha Singh made his Olympic debut in Melbourne in 1956. The Armyman, whose courageous saga after being orphaned in the riots that followed Partition is part of Indian athletics folklore, made a modest beginning, being eliminated in the first round in the 200 metres (22.47) and 400 metres (49.07).

Ajit Singh (high jump, 1.96-14th) and Mohinder Singh (triple jump, 15.20-15th) made the finals but both events had 22 contestants and not 12 as is the case now. Besides there were no tied places.

Milkha’s legend was penned in Rome four years later. He would be remembered as the first Indian runner to make such an impact on the world stage. He had outstanding success in the run-up to the Games and with timings of 47.72, 46.71 and 46.08, the 25-year-old Indian made the final.

Many stories have been written about that memorable final where Milkha (45.6) finished fourth behind Otis Davis (USA, 44.9), Carl Kaufman (Germany, 44.9) and Malcolm Spence (South Africa, 45.5). The top two bettered the world record, the next two clocked better than the previous Olympic record.

A little description from the IAAF’s “Progression of World Records” will give a better picture of that historic race. At 200, Spence was in the lead at 21.2; Davis (21.7), Kaufman (21.8) and Milkha (22.0) followed. At 300 metres, Davis had the lead at 32.7, with Spence (33.2), Earl Young (USA, 33.3) who was to finish sixth and last, Kaufman (33.4) and Milkha (33.6) following.

Rome was also the debut Games for Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, arguably the finest all-round Indian athlete, who was to make the final of the 110 metres hurdles in Tokyo four years later. As a 21-year-old, Randhawa competed in high jump and decathlon, finishing 29th in the qualification round in the former, with 1.90, and stopping after six events in the multi-event. The sixth, 110m hurdles, was so poor (16.4s) that Randhawa decided to give up!

“I hadn’t practised hurdles simply because at the Srinagar pre-Olympic camp, we had no hurdles,” said Randhawa, who now resides in Delhi and is the Chairman of the AFI Selection Committee. “There were no starting blocks, no javelin and no provision for pole vault either,” the former National record holder continued.

In four years, Randhawa had switched his focus completely to 110m hurdles since a shoulder injury stopped him from continuing his decathlon career after he took the gold in the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games.

His big day came in the final of the 110m hurdles in Tokyo, when he came fifth with a time of 14.0, the same that he clocked in the semfinal. That happened to be a National record.

Asked whether he could have done better, Randhawa was modest, saying “My basic speed was 10.9. My clearance was good and that’s why with that basic speed I was able to do 14.0. Hurdlers with much better basic speed, 10.4 and 10.5, were doing 14.0.”

Sriram Singh had his first taste of Olympics in Munich in 1972 but it was in Montreal, four years later, that he made history, becoming only the third Indian in a track event to make the final. Cuban Alberto Juantorena who won the 800m gold in a world record 1:43.50 still praises Sriram for the pace he set in the opening lap (50.9). Sriram eventually finished seventh in an Asian record of 1:45.77.

Sriram entered the semfinals of the 1980 Moscow Olympics before going out of the limelight. Exercise induced asthma troubled him in the last stages of his career.

Montreal also saw the emergence of two of India’s legendary distance runners, Hari Chand who set a national record of 28:48.72 in the heats of the 10,000 metres, and Shivnath Singh, who finished a gallant 11th in the marathon in 2:16.22.

Just about the time Sriram Singh was fading away came P. T. Usha on the Indian athletics scene.

“Moscow, as a 16-year-old, was a great, new experience for me,” recalled Usha. “I was getting into a flight for the first time; I ran on a synthetic track for the first time; I was alone, without anyone close to me, for the first time.”

She did not make any impact, getting eliminated in the opening heats of the 100 metres (12.27s) and 200 metres (25.16s).

Usha had her finest moment, however, in Los Angeles, when she made the final of the 400m hurdles and eventually came fourth, missing a medal by one-hundredth of a second.

“I had my foot in front, but failed to dip,” says Usha. She puts her failure down to the lack of preparation, partly caused by some “politics” at home. She was not allowed to compete in the inter-State in Delhi since she had not been selected by her State, Kerala, as she missed the State meet. The AAFI’s attempt to get her a special entry brought out protests from other athletes.

“I went into the Olympics after just three hurdles race in my life. That was totally inadequate. After one foul start in the final, I was tensed up and could not get to the first hurdle as fast as Nambiar Sir had planned,” recalled Usha.

If Los Angeles was the high point in Usha’s career, Seoul in 1988 proved a disastrous and painful experience for the country’s best athlete as she, plagued by injuries, was eliminated in the opening round in the hurdles and was excluded from the relay team after a trial, running alone, in Seoul.

Since the exit of Usha, only long jumper Anju George has made the final among Indians. With an opening round jump of 6.83, a National record, Anju took the sixth place in Athens.

“I was aiming for seven metres that year. I was in very good form,” said Anju the other day.

“On the day of the final, I felt giddy after warming up. It was dusty day and I felt uncomfortable. I felt completely drained well before the competition started. People asked me later whether I was scared. It was not stage-fright,” said Anju.

From the 1980s, three other runners had made the semifinals on track, apart from those who made the final — Shiny Abraham (800m), the first Indian woman to achieve that distinction in Los Angeles, K. M. Beenamol in the 400m in the Sydney Games in 2000 and her brother K. M. Binu in the 400 metres in Athens.

The women’s 4x400m relay team also made the final in the 2004 Olympics, just as an Indian team had done in 1984. This time, the team timed 3:26.89, a national record that still stands, on way to final where it finished seventh in 3:28.51.