Arjuna Award - Arjun Awardees in Athletics

Arjun Awardees in Athletics

==Arjun Awardees in Shot-Put

New Delhi, May 3: Two-Times Asian Games shot put champion, Joginder Singh, died of brain haemorrhage in the Capital this afternoon. He was 64 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. His friend, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa -- his teammate at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta -- was at his side when the end came at 1.40 p.m. in the afternoon.

According to Randhawa, the Asian Games gold medallist in decathlon in 1962, Joginder came over to his house to see him this morning. ``He came to meet me and then said he was going to see some other friend. He was having tea while talking and suddenly complained of some pain and lost consciousness a little later, he said.

A doctor diagnosed it as brain hemorrhage and Joginder was shifted to the Military Hospital in Delhi Cantonment, but he never recovered.

Joginder's family members are all in Canada and some are expected to arrive in a day or two, informed Randhawa. the cremation will be held on Tuesday. ``We want to wait for some of his relatives andchildren to come, he added.

A major in the Army, Joginder Singh, was one of the big champions in India's long list of successful shot putters. He maintained the tradition started by Madan Lal in 1951 Asian Games and continued by Parduman singh in 1954 and 1958. Joginder represented India in three successive Asian Games from 1962 to 1970 and won medals in each of them.

He was third with a distance of 14.91m in 1962 in Jakarta where Japan's Teruo Itokawa with a distance of 15.57m won the gold medal. The silver went to another Indian, Dinshaw Rustom, with a distance of 14.99m.

At the next Games in 1966 in Bangkok, Joginder erased the Games record with a distance of 16.22m. It was a close battle in which T. Yoghida of Japan was second with 16.13m and Djalal Kashmiri of Iran third with 16.02m.

In 1970, the tall and well-built Joginder, who used the O'Brien style of putting, retained his title with another Games record. In the process, he became the first shot putter to go past the 17-metre barrier in theevent.

He achieved a distance of 17.09m and once again beat Kashmiri of Iran, who was second with 16.96m. Kashmiri, incidentally, ended second in discus, too, behind another Indian, Praveen Kumar. Joginder retired soon after the Games.

Joginder's connection with the event did not end with his retirement as his trainees took over from where he left. Though the Iranian Kashmiri finally won the shot put - and also the discus - gold in 1974, Joginder's trainees, Bahadur Singh and Jagraj Singh, came second and third.

One of the most durable athletes of his time, Joginder may well have won many more international medals, but in those days, the quadrennial Asian Games were the only major and regular event apart from occasional appearances at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games for Indian athletes.

The Asian Championships began only in 1973 and, interestingly, it was Joginder's protege Jagraj Singh, who won the gold then two years later Bahadur won the shot put gold in 1975 at Seoul. Bahadur also went on towin the gold at the 1978 and 1982 Asian Games.

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.