Gurpreet hits the road again, teen Baljeet shines

Indervir Grewal

tribune news service

Chandigarh, february 16

There were many times in the last two years when Gurpreet Singh found his determination shaking. Every time the going got tough, the lanky athlete was reminded of his age. Returning to the sport of race walking after a gap of almost two years, Gurpreet knew things were going to be hard; but to attempt it at the age of 35 tested Gurpreet’s resolve. “It was difficult. So many times I thought about giving up,” said Gurpreet.

When Gurpreet quit race walking due to migraine, he stopped training as well. So in January 2018, when he decided to return, Gurpreet had to start from scratch again. “I quickly realised that I wasn’t a young 24-year-old anymore,” said Gurpreet, who first got into race walking at the age of 24. “Everything was tougher. Training for the 50km event, at times, I felt ‘what is the point, why go through so much agony again?’ But I was motivated from the fact that most top marathon runners and race walkers are over 35,” added the Army man.

Two years later, at the age of 37, Gurpreet’s hard work has paid off. On Sunday, he won the silver medal in the 50km event at the 7th National Race Walking Championships in Ranchi. Finishing in 4 hours, 9 minutes and 44 seconds, Gurpreet was over a minute slower than the gold medallist, 30-year-old Sanabam Daman Singh of Manipur.

Peacekeeping

Hailing from Patiala, Gurpreet started his race walking training under former international walker and national coach Gurdev Singh. In 2012, Gurpreet hit a high point when he made his IAAF World Cup debut in the 50km event in Russia. He finished 59th in his then personal best of 4:21:19. But he started struggling due to migraine and in 2015, a doctor told Gurpreet he needed to take a break from race walking. “I was disheartened but I decided to move on,” Gurpreet said. “What helped was that I was transferred to South Africa to be a part of the UN peacekeeping force. I stayed there for seven months, but after returning I started to miss competing,” he added.

Gurpreet sought Gurdev’s help again, and started training in 2018. And Sunday’s medal has brightened Gurpreet’s chances of making his second appearance at the World Cup, in Belarus in May this year, after a gap of eight years. “The medalists are pretty much assured of making the squad for the World Cup,” said Gurdev, now a coach at the Punjab Institute of Sports’ (PIS) Patiala centre. “It is good to see him competing and winning medals again,” he added.

Young Baljeet

At half Gurpreet’s age, Baljeet Kaur also hit a major milestone in her career. Also a trainee of Gurdev at the PIS centre, Baljeet won the silver medal in the under-20 girls’ 10km event. The 18-year-old finished in 50 minutes, 31 seconds to finish behind Munita Prajapati (50:15). While Munita achieved the World Junior Athletics Championships qualification mark, Baljeet missed it by one second.

But Baljeet, who hails from Kulana in Mansa, is likely to be included in the squad for the world event to be held in Kenya in July. “The top two finishers are selected,” said Gurdev, who has trained Baljeet for four years. “It would be the next step in her career. Last year, she made her international debut at the Asian youth championships. This would be her debut at a world-level event,” he added.

Haryana’s Amit breaks national 10km record

Haryana’s Amit broke the national record in the under-20 boys’ 10km event today. Amit won the race in 40 minutes, 28 seconds to better the mark set by Akshdeep Singh in 2018. He led the bunch of six athletes who met the World Junior Athletics Championships qualification mark of 43:30.