One figure who could not be missed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, till the Covid pandemic struck, was track and field legend Gurbachan Singh Randhawa. Tall and dressed in sporting whites, he would spend almost 90 minutes daily, overseeing youngsters who had come to train under a scheme promoted by the DDA (Delhi Development Authority at a venue which is steeped in history. Anyone who had visited the venue would vouch, the genial Sardar would keep an eye and offer tips. But then, when the virus started raging in 2020, he had to move away, stay at home.
The legend moved from competing to mentoring and was still relevant in the system. As far as Indian athletics goes, Randhawa was and is in sync with what elite Indian athletes do, even today. But then, you have to doff your hat to the man who quit as chairman of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) selection committee in 2023. A year hence, there is still nobody to replace him in that position, which is a bit strange.
Old-timers, who have spent time with Randhawa, 85, even just once, will fall in love with his knowledge and pearls of wisdom. Razor sharp and blessed with a keen awareness, he preferred to be his own man, be it as an athlete who grew up in Nangli, a village near Amritsar. Those days, there was no post office in that village, although now there is a branch post office.
Maybe, Randhawa had made that village famous, but he will not agree to such a statement. Punjab as a state has produced a lot of sporting heroes, cutting across different disciplines. Milkha Singh is a legend and still features high on a rating list. One also cannot miss the number of hockey players Punjab has produced, from Pargat Singh to Manpreet Singh.
However, if one misses the name of Randhawa, that will be an inadvertent error. There are many stories surrounding the legend, his versatility and how he embraced track and field like a duck to water. He had dabbled with many sports, badminton included. Best remembered for the fifth placed finish at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in 110m hurdles, Randhawa was a convert.
Four years before this effort, he had dazzled in the decathlon at the Delhi Nationals. To have won gold with an aggregate of 5793 points was versatility personified. After all, he had shattered the record of Cheema Muthiah, another well-known name. In his first Olympics in1960 in Rome, Randhawa didn’t perform at his best. He had a DNF (did not finish) to show for.
Yet, as someone who sat in the stands and watched Milkha Singh compete in Rome and finish fourth in the 400 metres, Randhawa loved to indulge in banters with the Flying Sikh. Not many would know, Randhawa had the courage to walk up to Milkha and tell him that many years ago, he was never in the reckoning for a medal.
Today, this may jolt a few, but Randhawa had poured over the split timings of Milkha from Rome and told him a few facts, rather harsh truths. No way demeaning Milkha the legend, Randhawa felt truthfully that as per split timings, Milkha was not fast in the first two 100m segments. He had sped up in the last two 100m bursts, which wasn’t enough. There was no jealousy in what Randhawa said. It was just what he saw.
This piece, in no way, is an attempt to malign or tarnish any legend in the run-up to the Paris Olympics. After all, each athlete who has competed for India and will now compete in Paris from July 26 will leave no stone unturned to perform creditably. Back to Randhawa and how he could do throws, jumps and hurdles, he was a natural.
The story goes that he once jumped over a badminton net, of course, with its height reduced. It was no Fosbury flop, now in vogue, but a simple straddle, which had caught his coach’s eye way back in the late 1950s and 60s. The fifth-placed finish in Tokyo in the 100m hurdles was a massive high. Then again, if one flips through the annals of history and has ever spoken to Randhawa, he had to compete in two races in Tokyo within an hour’s gap. That was very tough, more so on a track that was wet. Plus, those days, there was no synthetic surface.
No narrative on Randhawa is complete without a mention of what he did at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta when he won gold in decathlon. He had to deal with a shoulder niggle after that and preferred to shift to the 110m hurdles. A panel had judged Randhawa as the best in Asia at the time, which was a reflection of his star value. Had he been doing the same things today, he would be, perhaps, trending on social media.
Away from the glare of competition and fame, Randhawa was a brilliant officer. He rose to the level of Commandant in the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force). Having been in ‘forward areas’ and distinguished himself as an officer, the medals he won – sports and for meritorious service – defined his contribution.
A book, “Uddna Baaz” has also been penned on Randhawa. At the book launch a few years ago, none other than former sports minister of Punjab, Sardar Pargat Singh lavished fulsome praise on the lion-hearted Randhawa. For this generation that falls for a star athlete named Neeraj Chopra, a peek into the history of Indian athletics will help the fans capture the essence of how champions like Milkha Singh and Gurbachan Randhawa provided moments of joy.