Army’s Ram Singh Yadav takes giant strides towards Olympic

Two images of Ram Singh Yadav will be etched in one’s memory. One, when he crossed the finish line with his arms stretched wide, aggression in his demeanour giving way to a gentle smile, looking more relieved than anything else. He had just clinched an Olympic berth for himself, clocking a personal best time of two hours, 16 minutes, 59 seconds to finish first among the Indian runners at the Mumbai Marathon.

The second came a few minutes later. Addressing the media during the post-race conference, his emotions got the better of him. With that smile still intact, he fought tears bravely. After his body endured the arduous two-hour run, he let his heart do the talking. “I am proud of myself today,” were the army man’s first words. “I don’t run for the country, my team or myself anymore. I run for my family because, in the end, I have to feed them,” he added.

Those words coming from an army man — they take pride in their sense of patriotism — stunned all.

But Yadav showed on Sunday that they too are human. Yadav’s affair with the Maximum City has been quite one-sided. While he has given it all during the marathons here, he hasn’t got his rewards. In fact, he was left embarrassed despite finishing at the top in 2008 as well. Yadav had clocked 2:18.23, prompting IOA president Suresh Kalmadi to announce on the dais that he had qualified for the Beijing Olympics. Hours later, the decision was reversed after the officials realised that they had goofed-up. Yadav had missed the bus by three seconds. That moment haunts him even today. “That day, you (media) made me a hero and when it was announced that I hadn’t qualified, no one bothered about me.

I was left alone to fight the battle. But this time, you can’t stop me. I have earned my right to be at the Olympics,” said Yadav, who also set the course record among the Indian runners.

By Indian standards, Yadav, who finished 12th overall, ran remarkably well. There were doubts lingering over his capability to cope up with the pressure and the hype surrounding him. But the itch to bury the past demons, once and for all, meant he ran the best marathon of his career. Such was his intensity that he narrowly missed out on an ‘A’ qualification mark (2:15.00) which is usually a target set by some of the top runners. He also shaved off nearly nine minutes from the time he recorded here last year, another notable achievement.

Yadav credited this to his planning and execution. “The weather was very good today and that helped me a lot. I tried to keep up with the Kenyan runners, but I realised it was tough to maintain their pace. I stuck to my plan and paced myself well,” he explained.

Yadav’s success overshadowed another remarkable story of 29-year-old Elam Singh. Singh, who represents India in 3000m steeplechase, finished second in his first marathon and missed out on the qualification mark by 27 seconds. “We will send him and Ram Singh for the London Marathon in April. It will be a good exposure for them and will provide Elam with a qualification opportunity,” Army Sports Institute commandant Col RS Bishnoi said.

A total of five Indians finished in the top 20. The others include Rajesh TA (15th), Lyngkhoi Binning (18th) and Karan Singh (20th).