Randhawa performed sublimely in the 1962 Jakarta Asian games, securing the Gold Medal in the decathlon with a whopping tally of 6739 points, while the silver medallist Shosuke Suzuki of Japan trailed far behind by almost 550 points. A shoulder injury after the Jakarta championship forced him to switch from the decathlon to the 110 metres hurdles. Gurbachan Singh Randhawa was India's standard bearer at the 1964 Tokya Olympics, where he faced an impressive line up from all the other teams in the 110 m hurdles. Despite his best efforts, he placed fifth in the finals, though the semi-finals saw him achieve a personal best of 14 seconds. Like Milkha Singh, his records set at the national level have endured far past his active years. His 14s 110 m hurdle record remains unbroken by an Indian after 40 years, and Randhawa's decathlon barrier of 6,912 points remained unbroken for 12 years until his own trainee, Vijay Singh Chauhan crossed it. Randhawa was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1961 and the Padma Shriin 2005 and remains a doyen in the world of athletics. This article is a stub. You can enrich by adding more information to it. Send your Write Up to content@indianetzone.com |