Asian Games: Tajinderpal, Avinash Sable, and Contrasting Routes to Golden Glory

Tajinderpal Toor & Avinash Sable- India's two gold medallists in athletics on Super Sunday at the 2023 Asian Games.

Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Avinash Sable won track-and-field gold medals for India on Sunday night in Hangzhou.

(Photo: PTI/The Quint)

Two athletics gold medals on day eight of the Asian Games in Hangzhou came in contrasting style. Tajinderpal Singh Toor continued India’s dominance in shot put in the Games as he won the 11^th gold medal in the event ever since the Games began in New Delhi in 1951. Barring three occasions in 1986, 1994 and 2010 when no Indian shot putter stood on the podium, India has so far claimed 16 medals in the event.

On the other hand, Avinash Sable broke the jinx and went on to become the first Indian to win a gold medal in the Asian Games. Earlier, on several occasions Indian steeplechasers ran their hearts out but could not get on to the top spot. They had to remain content with either silver or bronze.

Statistical contrast apart, even at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, two Indians registered their victories in contrasting fashion. Toor, who holds the Asian and the Games record, throwing with a disco-put technique, was trailing after two invalid throws. But managed 20.06 in his fourth attempt to stay in the contention. But then Mohamed Tolo of Saudi Arabia went into the lead with a 20.18 effort. But Toor came out with a 20.36 m winning throw in his last attempt even though it gave a scare as it almost touched the line of the throwing arc.

Sable on the other hand faced no such problem. In fact, his win was perhaps the easiest for an Indian athlete in the international arena for a long time. He was in the leading bunch throughout and managed all 28 hurdles and seven water jumps with great ease to win the gold in one of the toughest events in athletics programme. His clearance over the hurdles, even at the water jumps, was technically superb and no pressure from his rivals made things even easier for him. After breaking away from the leading bunch soon into the race, he was in solo lead at the bell and went on to win in style in 8:19.50 for the Games record. Considering he took up competitive running only in 2015, his performance is extraordinary. If he had not relaxed and slowed down in the last few metres of the race, he would have still brushed off a few seconds in his timing. Maybe he could have clipped seconds of his national record of 8:11.20 set in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last year.

Pace judgment is very crucial in middle and long distance events. Temptation to be with the leaders sometimes upset your plans. It happened to Sable in the World Championships. He finished seventh in his heat and failed to progress into the final at the World Championship in Budapest recently. He had clocked 8:22.24 to finish seventh in heat one.

With this in the back of his mind, he ran a calculated race on a Super Sunday in Hangzhou. ‘’I took it easy after I saw my lead on the big screen. I knew I would get the Games record but didn’t want to push myself to go after my personal best (8:11.20),’’ he said. ``I was determined to win gold and had decided I would keep my pace and run at that. At the World Championship it was my mistake to follow others at their pace. Today I stick to my plan.’’ He added.

Interestingly Sable is not a product of any scheme to tap sporting talent. Like most of the world beaters from Kenya, Sable simply ran to school six kilometres each day as no public transportation was available in his native Maharashtra village Mandwa in Beed District.

Coming from a humble abode of farmer parents, Sable had no sporting ambitions. Physical fitness for him was a way to join the army in order to provide for his family.

Shot putter Toor also had a family connect – a promise he made to his wife before embarking for China. "I was confident of winning the gold and I was under no pressure. I had told my wife that I will get the gold,’’ a beaming Toor said after defending his title. "I have been dealing with groin issues all year, so this result gives me a lot of satisfaction. I couldn’t throw my 100 percent because I felt securing a medal was more important than throwing my best tonight,’’ he added.

Toor’s medal was a tribute to earlier shot putters like Parduman Singh, Joginder Singh, Bahadur Singh and Jagraj among others who kept the tricolour flying in the international athletics arena.