Ram Singh Yadav: The second Indian to make the marathon
Marathon runner Ram Singh Yadav became the third Indian athlete to clear the AFI fitness test for competing in the London Olympics.
For the Olympic qualification this year, he trained at a high altitude training centre for 45 days in Tamil Nadu in the town of Coonoor. He participated in the 2012 Mumbai Marathon following his training, which was the same event where he failed to earn an Olympic berth for the Beijing Olympics. This time however, he finished the race in 2 hours, 16 minutes and 59 seconds, which was his personal best and earned his spot at the Olympics – becoming only the second man to have qualified for the marathon event at the Olympics after Shivanth Singh in 1976 and 1980.
Yadav who will be competing on August 12th at the megastar event says he took to running in order to earn money, and wouldn’t run if he had enough money; it was not out of interest or passion that he took to running, instead, out of helplessness in order to support his family.
While he was at school, from a very young age his PT master had guided and supported him as he believed Yadav had the potential to reach great heights. He attributes his success to his family, especially his brother, without who he believes he wouldn’t have achieved what he has. He joined the army as his brother insisted and got him registered for the same along with a group of others from his village.
He turned to sport as an additional source of income. He is a havaldar in the Indian Army and currently is posted in Hyderabad’s artillery centre, although he trains at the Pune-based Army Sports Institute. He couldn’t support or contribute much to his family as whatever he earned, he spent for training and towards the sport and hence he returned to his battalion in the army.
“Athletes don’t come from very well-to-do backgrounds. One fine day I decided to pursue athletics and ran a couple of races. When my family heard of it, I had to tell them that this was what I wanted to do in order to earn money to take care of their needs, “Yadav said.
Here is another instance of an athlete not being well supported that comes to light. “If the government supports athletes, sponsors them and provides respectable training facilities, then Indian athletes can compete against athletes worldwide. Indians have enough potential to be as good as anyone else – all they need is the right kind of support”, Ram Singh Yadav said.
As to what he’s looking forward to in the London Olympics, the 31-year-old said he would like to do his best there and trying his best to win gold there.