Nitendra Singh Rawat
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
A profile
The Times of India, August 2, 2016
Gaurav Talwar
Rio 2016 - 3 DAYS TO GO - Nitendra, the marathon man from Uttarakhand hills
As a child, Nitendra Singh Rawat loved athletics as much as Chris Gayle fancies a forward defensive stroke. But there's no escaping destiny. Growing up in the faraway hills of easter n Uttarakhand, Nitendra trudged five km to school every day . “I always think that walking to school helped him become a good marathoner,“ says his father Heera Singh Rawat.
Even during his early teenage years, Nitendra showed little inclination towards long distance running. “He took up running only after clearing his intermediate exams and moving to Almora. Nitendra once told me that he saw a stadium for the first-time in Almora which motivated him to take up sports,“ recalls childhood friend Digamber. Both grew up in Garud village in Bageshwar district.
It wasn't an easy life for the Rawats after flash floods destroyed their house and farmland in 2010. “We had just constructed our new house,“ recalls Rawat Sr ruefully .
In 2006, Nitendra joined army in 2006 to support his parents and two sisters. “After that he took up athletics seriously and never looked back,“ says Heera. If his son became a late bloomer in sports and has qualified for Rio as a marathon man, a huge slice of credit also goes to his coach Surendra Singh Bhandari. “I would like to thank Indian Army and his coach for making him what he is today ,“ says Rawat Sr.
After taking up athletics, Nitendra became an accomplished 5,000m runner. “He proved his mettle winning numer ous medals includ ing gold in Federa tion Cup in Patiala in 2013 and then again coming first in inter national events in Thailand and Sri Lanka,“ says Bhandari.
“But since 2014, I was motivating him to shift to marathon as I could see in him the qualities of good marathoner.Marathon is a mental and physical challenge and I was confident that Nitendra had the talent, determination and physical strength to excel in the long-distance running event,“ says Bhandari.
Finally, in January 2015, both decided to start training for the marathon. Nitendra was made to run 32 kms at Ooty in Tamil Nadu to ascertain whether he had the capacity. “Within nine months, Nitendra had clocked 2:18:06 in World Military Games, which was his first official long-distance race, to confirm his Rio Olympic berth. He made all of us proud,“ says his coach.
Now 29 years of age, Nitendra is a havildar in the 6th Kumaon regiment. He told TOI from Bangalore that his ultimate aim is to win a medal in Olympics but he will be satisfied if he is able to clock 2:10 in Rio.
