Olympics: Inspired by Bollywood, Racewalker Akshdeep Singh Wanted To Serve Army

Racewalker Akshdeep Singh wanted to serve India from the frontline. He is now serving the nation at Paris Olympics.

Ranjit Singh pioneered the journey of Indian racewalkers at the Olympics. Since his 18th-place finish in Moscow 1980, many racewalkers have represented the nation in sport’s grandest stage. Some, like KT Irfan, who finished 10th at the 2012 London Olympics, have come close to glory. However, a podium finish has remained an elusive dream in this discipline. Yet, Akshdeep Singh begs to differ.

Interestingly, Akshdeep – one of India’s four racewalkers for the Paris Olympics – hails from the small village of Kahne Ke, which is located about 200 kilometres from Jindwara, the hometown of Ranjit Singh. On Thursday (1 August), he will be traversing 1/10thof that distance through the Trocadéro, along the river Seine, opposite the Eiffel Tower. And he will do so with the aim of winning a medal.

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Akshdeep tells The Quint:

I am definitely dreaming of a medal. Because if you are not courageous enough to dream of a medal, what good is your dream anyway? Every day when I wake up, I manifest winning a medal in Paris. I know I have come here after putting in a lot of hard work in my country, and there would be nothing more satisfying than making my nation proud. Mujhe bas India ke liye apna poora jaan lagana hai (I want to give my all for India). As for whether I will win a medal or not, only God has the answer to that. But that does not stop me from dreaming.

Akshdeep Singh

Currently holding the National Record (NR) in men’s 20km race walking with a time of 1:19:38, Akshdeep has made a significant leap from the 1:26:12 he clocked just three years ago.

This rapid progression fuels his confidence.

I went from 1:26 in 2020, to 1:23 in 2022 and finally 1:19 last year. It is not that I trained any differently over the years, as I have always worked very hard. But initially, I did not know how to translate the work I was putting into practice into results. I also had injuries early in my career. Once I was free of injuries and learned the craft of conducting myself in a race, I kept on progressing. I am confident.

Akshdeep Singh

Not the Ranjit Singhs, but Akshdeep Was Inspired by the Fictional Kuldip Singhs

That, we have formed a connection between Ranjit Singh and Akshdeep Singh, does not signify the latter was inspired by the former, and hence opted to be a racewalker.

Not Ranjit Singh, but Akshdeep was more inspired by the likes of the fictional Kuldip Singh of the 1997 film Border, portrayed by Sunny Deol. A fan of movies depicting the Indian Army, he wanted to serve the nation from the frontline.

I had been dreaming of joining the Indian Army since I was 10 years old. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, I don’t come from a very financially sound family. My father is a farmer, we own about 3 acres of land and survive on whatever we could produce on that land. But besides that, I have also been a huge fan of Bollywood films which show stories of the Indian Army since childhood. They have always fascinated me. It was also a big reason why I wanted to join the Army.

Akshdeep Singh

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Destiny's Twist

Fate had other plans. The trajectory of Akshdeep’s life changed when he met his first athletics coach.

I started preparing for the recruitment drive when I was 15. I started running in my local ground. It soon became a hobby for me, I would run twice daily, and I felt really good doing it. After a while, I decided to train at our district’s stadium instead. There I met a coach called Jaspreet Singh Badher. He saw potential in me and took me under his wing. I went from 800m to 1500m, then 5km, and eventually, got into race walking.

Akshdeep Singh

Akshdeep has covered significant ground, both in his races and his career. After a year’s training in Barnala, he went to Patiala and spent two years, before heading down south to Bengaluru in 2020. The last leg is where his life changed.

I went to Patiala, trained there for two years, and got selected in the Khelo India scheme in 2018. Then in 2020, I went to Bengaluru and it sort of changed my life. I trained under Sardar Gurmeet Singh, who is a two-time Olympian himself, and the group he was training had some world-class athletes. The likes of Priyanka (Goswami) and Sandeep (Kumar) were all training under him, and by then, all of them were preparing for the Olympics. So I thought I could be at the Olympics too, and started training accordingly.”

Akshdeep Singh

About Breaking Records and Making Comebacks

Akshdeep’s career graph has predominantly seen highs in recent years, the first of those being a gold medal at the Indian Race Walking Championships in Ranchi last year. But most importantly, he created a new NR – bettering Sandeep Kumar’s 1:20:16 to register 1:19:55.

About breaking the record, he says:

I did not think I would break the national record, honestly. My goal was to finish the race within 1:20:00, and I had prepared hard for it. Fortune favoured me on that day, and the weather was also pleasant in Ranchi, so everything went my way. I felt satisfied after the race, but even then I did not realise I had created a new record. It was only after the timings were confirmed that I came to know.

Akshdeep Singh

Injuries prevented him from participating at the Hangzhou Asian Games but on his return, Akshdeep was stronger than ever before. He first bettered his own record by clocking 1:19:38 in Chandigarh, and then secured a quota for the mixed marathon race event in Antalya, though he will not compete in the latter event at the Olympics.

Akshdeep shares the secret behind the improvement:

I knew that I had only achieved the qualification standard for the Olympics with that 2023 Ranchi race, but that did not confirm my ticket, because anyone can achieve that standard. My goal was to not get complacent, because Paris was still afar. I was determined to have a strong comeback, without any dip in performance.

Akshdeep Singh

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The Once-Sceptical Singhs Are Gearing up for Tomorrow

Father Gurjant Singh, mother Reetinder Kaur, and brother Vishav Singh will all be following Akshdeep’s event on Thursday. But the 24-year-old is candid in his admission about the resistance he had once experienced from his family.

They did not support me initially, to be completely honest with you, but I don’t blame them for that. My father is a farmer, my mother is a homemaker. They are simple people, they don’t know that sports can earn someone a stable livelihood. They feared that I was wasting my life away, so my parents used to force me to study and get a regular job instead.

Akshdeep Singh

Now, Akshdeep informs, his family is perfectly cognisant of all developments in the world of racewalking. And of his records. And, most importantly, of the importance of tomorrow.