 Ranjit Bhatia was an Indian athlete and journalist who ran marathon and 5000 meters event at the 1960 Summer Olympic in Rome.
Ranjit Bhatia was born on 27th May 1936. He studied at the Lawrence School, Sanawar. After that, he attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and matriculating from Jesus College in 1957. He did his graduation from Oxford. Ranjit Bhatia returned to India after graduating from Oxford. In 1960, Ranjit Bhatia joined St. Stephen's College, Delhi to teach Mathematics. He remained there until his retirement as Reader. Ranjit Bhatia was an active athlete, both at Oxford University. There he was awarded a Blue medal as well as a member of the Belgrave Harriers. Ranjit Bhatia participated in the 1960 Rome Olympics. There he ranked 60th in the marathon and participating in heats of the 5000 metres race. Ranjit Bhatia was contemporary to Milkha Singh, one of the leading sports personalities in India. He was a sports writer and presenter. He wrote for Athletics Weekly and covered several Olympic Games for Indian newspapers, including The Statesman. Ranjit Bhatia was an active member of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians. He was also a national-level selector for Indian athletics between 1976 and 1984. He wrote many sports books. Among his written works are the Handbook of Indian Athletics, and the Book of Asian Games. Ranjit Bhatia was an administrator for the Indian chapter of the Rhodes Scholarships from 1962 till his retirement in 1997. Ranjit Bhatia was a well-known name on international circuit of athlete circle and wrote extensively on Indian athletics for domestic and foreign publications. He was a keen track and field statistician and contributed regularly to Britain's Athletics Weekly magazine. He covered seven Olympics for different Indian newspapers of many languages. Ranjit Bhatia was awarded with Order of British Empire, a highest award for his services to global athletics and a being definite viaduct between Indian and British sports arena. Ranjit Bhatia was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Bhatia died on 9 February 2014 in Delhi. He was 77 and is survived by wife Rani and daughters Ritu Bhatia and Tavishi Bhatia. (Last Updated on : 02-09-2014) |
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