Back from brink, Inderjeet ready to give his all at Rio
Reigning Asian shot put champion Inderjeet Singh, who was one of the first Indian athletes to qualify for the Rio Olympics, wants to be the face of athletes who are unable to voice their problems to the government.
“After this performance, I will be in a situation to speak for people who cannot voice their problems. The government wants to know what problems athletes are facing,” the 28year- old, who booked a slot for the Games as a result of his 20.65m throw at the Federation Cup in May last year, said on Monday.
“At this stage everybody is asking me what the chances of a medal are. I only say that I am going to improve myself there so that in the coming years, I can make it to the event with a better score,” he added.
Inderjeet, who shot to prominence by clinching the 2013 World University Games silver at Kazan in Russia, is one of the country’s medal hopefuls.
Asked about pressure, the Punjab thrower said, “Why shall I take pressure? I have to give my best. Pressure will reduce your performance. I’ll treat it like any other competition, have fun and do the best I can. I will kill myself and give my last breath in that circle.”
Life has not been rosy for Inderjeet, who belongs to a
middle class family in Haryana. In 2010, the hefty young man, who is 6’ 5” and weighs 150kg, slipped into coma following a bout of dengue fever. In 2007, he lost his father, Gurdial Singh, and the thought of giving up athletics also crossed his mind.
“My father passed away and all my funds were over. I faced a lot of injuries. Then in 2010, I was in coma for three to four days as the dengue attack was very severe. I did not even have money to get regular blood tests done.”
But Inderjeet, who won gold at the Asian Athletics Championships in 2015, is now happy with the support he is getting from the government. He recently returned from the USA and the stint brought a lot of changes in his routine.
“I worked a lot over there. I was a little over trained also. But now everybody is giving me blessing, love and support to go out there and do better,” Inderjeet, who is currently training in Haryana, said.