Athletes signal start of a new golden era

NEW DELHI: Indian athletes won two gold medals at the Asian games on Thursday, taking their gold tally to seven and medals to 19 (including 10 silver and 2 bronze), their best performance since 1978 Bangkok, and third best overall. In 1951, in New Delhi, Indians won 10 gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze in track and field; in 1978, they won 8 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze.

To be sure, India’s athletes won seven medals in the 2002 Busan games too, but only won six silver. India will take special pride in the two medals it won on Thursday — the first in 1500m, considered among the most diffi-

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cult of races; and the second in the women’s 4x400m where it scored over a fancied Bahrain team made up of African imports on the back of a risky gambit — using its fastest quarter miler Hima Das in the first leg. As it turned out, Das provided a significant lead which ended up being more than enough to help India win the gold.

Manjit Singh (28 years old; 800m), Jinson Johnson (27, 1,500m), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (23, shot put), Neeraj Chopra (20, javelin throw), Arpinder Singh (25, triple jump), the women’s 4x400m relay team and Swapna Barman (heptathlon, 21) are India’s gold medallists in athletics. Their age makes most of them serious contenders in the 2020 Olympics.

TEXT: S. PERVEZ QAISER