Rohtak youth who broke Milkha’s record qualifies for Rio

Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, July 12

Dharmbir, an athlete hailing from Ajayab village in Rohtak district, has qualified for the Olympic Games to be organised in Rio de Janeiro shortly.

Dharambir completed the 200-metre race in 20.45 seconds during the Olympic Qualifying Tournament at Bengaluru, securing a place in the Olympics.

While doing so, the promising athlete broke his own national record of 20.66 seconds. To qualify for the Olympics, he was required to complete the race in 20.5 seconds.

Dharambir has brought laurels to the state as well as the country in athletics. He broke Milkha Singh’s record and won a bronze in the 200-metre event at the 21st Asian Athletics Championship organised in China in June 2015.

The Haryana lad had taken 20.66 seconds to complete the 200-metre sprint in that event, as against 20.8 seconds taken by Milkha Singh.

The only son of small-time farmer Shardha Nand, who also has four daughters, Dharmbir has been working as an LIC agent to earn his livelihood. He could not participate in the London Olympics in 2012 due to financial constraints.

The international-level athlete even had to raise a loan of Rs 6 lakh to prepare for the Asian Athletics Championship. This time too, he had to seek help from different quarters to reach thus far.

Dharmbir has participated and won medals in the 2010 Asian Games, Delhi Commonwealth Games, Senior National Interstate Athletic Championships, National Games, National Open Athletic Championships and numerous other national and international athletic events.