The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Gurmeet fighting age and fate

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 11, 2005

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Sport - Athletics

Gurmeet fighting age and fate

V.V. Subrahmanyam

Puts behind the death of her husband

HYDERABAD: She is fighting against age and fate, literally. Gurmeet Kaur (34) is the National champion in javelin and her dedication may well reflect what it means to be a champion athlete under trying circumstances. Her story is one of grit and determination.

For Gurmeet it has been a tale of woe ever since she lost her husband and coach last year. And when she had given up her career, she was coaxed back to the competitive circuit by current Indian chief coach Bahadur Singh.

Why is she back in the field? "I just want to dedicate an Asian Games medal to my late husband," said Gurmeet Kaur after setting a new meet record in the javelin event during the 45th National Open athletic meet here on Thursday.

"The death of my husband was the biggest shock of my life. Everything seemed to be all over in sport and in life too," she said.

Not very often does an Indian woman athlete compete with such vigour and determination as Gurmeet did on a chilly evening at the GMC Balayogi Stadium here. She said she is keen to send a message to her critics that she has the will and the talent to perform under trying circumstances.

An officer in the LIC, Gurmeet Kaur feels she can win a medal in the Doha Asian Games next year.

For someone who switched over to javelin from shotput due to a wrist injury, Gurmeet is clearly defying experts with her consistent performances.

This gutsy performer is now aiming to cross the 60.20m mark in javelin in the run-up to the Doha Asiad.

Gurmeet, silver medallist in the inaugural 2003 Afro-Asian Games (53.37m), believes that Thursday's new meet record of 53.77m eclipsing her own mark of 52.91 set in 2002, should provide her the right impetus to chase her dream of an Asian Games medal successfully.

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