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'Indian athletes have got too many facilities'
By Qaiser Mohammad Ali
Sep 12, 2000, 17:15 Hrs (IST)
Delhi: Gurbachan Singh Randhawa was a versatile athlete, arguably the greatest that India has produced. He was inclined towards track and field events from his school and college days, and eventually went on to represent India at the Olympic Games.
His biggest moment came when he finished fifth in the 110 metres hurdles
at the Tokyo Games in 1964. On a wet track and within 45 minutes,
Randhawa ran two important races - the semi-finals and the final.
Against the world's top athletes, he clocked 14.09 seconds, which still
stands as a national record.
He also held the Indian decathlon record for 12 years, until Vijay Singh
Chauhan broke it. Randhawa won the national 110m hurdles title from 1962
to 1964 and remained decathlon champion from 1960 to 1963.
The government recognised Randhawa's contribution to the sport and
bestowed on him the Arjuna Award in the year of its inception, in 1961,
ahead of Parduman Singh, champion shotputter, discus thrower and his
senior. Randhawa was also given the Police Medal, in 1978, for
meritorious services.
Married to Jaswinder, the Delhi-based Randhawa is at present the
government observer on the national athletic selection panel. "Indian
athletes do not have any affinity towards their departments. They have
got too many facilities," Randhawa said in a free wheeling interview
with India Abroad News Service.
What were you basically - a high jumper, a decathlete, a long jumper or a javelin thrower?
I inherited the qualities of my father and elder brother who were
athletes. I started with high jump, but would still do anything
initially - high jump, long jump and javelin. In 1958, I was declared
the best athlete of Punjab University.
In the 1960 Nationals, I participated in decathlon. I created the high
jump record of 2.02 metres and with it, I qualified for the 1960 Rome
Olympics. I then qualified for the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games, in
decathlon. After that my elbow and shoulder got injured, which affected
my javelin throw. It was then that I (fully) concentrated on 110m
hurdles.
With which event were you more comfortable as a school and college student?
I was interested in all the events. Nothing is easy in the life. You
should have good concentration, should be dedicated and do a lot of
practice to excel. It is a different matter if you are doing an event as
a pastime. But if you want to specialize, no event is easy.
I was a poor sprinter; my 100m time was not so good. But, since my
clearance and technique were good (for hurdles), it always compensated
for the lack of good speed. I was lucky to finish fifth in the 110m
hurdles at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Who was your coach in college?
There used to be no coach in colleges during those days. Like schools
having a P T teacher, in colleges there used to be a director of
physical education, who used to take care of all the disciplines.
However, in 1960, I trained under Mr S F Vincent Reel, who was the chief
coach of California University - the athletics federation had invited
him before the 1960 Olympics - and in 1962 Hungarian Kovacs guided me
for some time in Patiala, where he was the chief athletics coach at the
National Institute of Sports.
However, I did not gain as much from the coaches as from my hard work,
dedication and the competitions that I took part in. Nevertheless,
Kovacs, who himself was a top class hurdler, helped me a great deal
before the Rome Olympics, specifically with the warming up for the
hurdles, because warming up varies for each event.
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