Support Inderjeet Singh's quest to win India's first athletics medal at the Olympics

At a towering 6.4 feet and 150 kilograms, Inderjeet Singh is an imposing man. It stands to reason, then, that the shot-putter’s achievements would be big too. Beyond the imposing frame lie immense mental tenacity and a fortitude beyond compare.

Much could be written about Inderjeet’s achievements. Having already participated in five different international competitions this year, he has won gold medals in each of them. He took part in the Asian Athletics Championships held in Wuhan, China in early June and won the top prize there. At the recently concluded Universiade or World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea, Singh continued his gold rush.

Inderjeet also won three top prizes at the Asian Grand Prix – one for each leg of the athletics meet, which was held in Thailand. The first came in the capital, Bangkok, and the subsequent two at Pathumthani and Chanthaburi.

At the championships in China, Inderjeet also set a championship record of 20.41 metres.

A painful past

Behind his huge achievements, however, lies significant heartache. From the small village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab, Inderjeet’s family moved to Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh where his father worked in the public sector. He was a keen sportsman from an early age, and showed an affinity and skill for athletics while still a young schoolboy.

Inderjeet achieved several laurels at a young age, and this was acknowledged by the Government. He was awarded the Eklavya Award for Sports by the state's Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in 2006.

He looked poised to scale unforeseen heights even then, but his climb was thwarted as tragedy befell the Singh family. Inderjeet’s father, whom he was very close to, passed away in 2007. With that, Inderjeet had to manage the cost of his own training, while also being the breadwinner for his family and taking care of them. The burden of this alone may have caused any other athlete to crumble under the pressure and leave the sport.

But Inderjeet persisted through each of his troubles despite the fact that life would only go on to throw more curveballs his way. Struggling with daily life in addition to his training, he qualified for the World University Games in 2013, held in Kazan, Russia. Already struggling to acclimatise himself to the frigid conditions there, Inderjeet discovered that all of his equipment had been mislaid by the airlines. Following this, he walked three kilometres with two heavy bags all the way to the Kazan Arena from the airport in shoes that were too small for him.

Despite the dark cloud over his stay even before the tournament had begun, Inderjeet threw a (then) personal best of 19.70m, which would win him the silver medal at the Games.

Expressing his immense pride for the country and his joy at representing it, Inderjeet said, "To stand on the podium with 'India' emblazoned across your chest and seeing the tricolour unfurl is perhaps the biggest thing for a sportsperson. That feeling of pride at having won the medal for India is what drives me forward."

Concentrate on training, or earning money?

Finances have always been a significant issue for Inderjeet. Surviving only on his winnings from the games he participates in, he frequently finds himself short of funds for proper equipment, gear or facilities to continue training.

"The dietary and training requirements of a professional shot putter are completely different from most other athletes. I need dietary supplements every day to stay in shape for my game. These supplements are extremely expensive and I find it very difficult to arrange for the requisite funds with my meager income", he says, aware that he could be performing much better had he been enjoying these facilities that athletes from some of the other countries take for granted.

Without any financial assistance and having already exhausted his prize money on purchasing dietary supplements and basic training equipment, Inderjeet is finding it increasingly difficult to continue. He and his mother and brother have given up several familial assets to fund his training; the three sold the two family shops they owned in their village, and mortgaged the land that they had in their native village to finance his training needs.

Stories from Inderjeet’s training paint a heart-wrenching picture. Often practising late into the evening, he was forced to switch on the headlights of vehicles that were parked nearby to continue, due to the lack of floodlights.

A promising but uncertain future

Giving up, however, was one thing that Inderjeet was absolutely unprepared to do.

He has delivered a series of strong performances and has bettered his personal best on numerous occasions, most recently at the Federations Cup, where he threw a personal best of 20.65m and narrowly missed the national record of 20.69m. He won gold at the event.

With an average throw of 20m, Singh is only just behind the winning average of 21m and looks poised to be able to win.

In the process, he also secured a spot at the Summer Olympics in 2016 to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Even after this, Inderjeet faces financial difficulties to meet his training expenses, particularly his extremely expensive dietary supplements. Adding to his plight is the pressure of paying back his loan and managing his family’s finances in addition.

A promising young talent who has proved his mettle time and time again, Inderjeet still struggles to manage the different aspects of his life.

"Medal winners are not made overnight. They undergo rigorous training and preparation. Am I supposed to work on my training or worry about my credit requirements?" he ponders, uncertain about a future that otherwise looks immensely bright.

It is time that India stands up for the talent in the country that is waiting to make its mark but is hampered by adverse circumstances. Many athletes have had their dreams cut short only because of a lack of funds, and if we lose the immense talent of Inderjeet Singh to the same curse, it will be a great shame.

To that end, Sportskeeda is leading a crowdfunding campaign to assist Inderjeet. Anyone who wishes to contribute any amount of money to his cause can click on the link below and do their bit.

There’s a sporting revolution about to be unleashed in India, and now is the time to light the fire for it!