Things that you need to know about Inderjeet Singh

Indian Shot Putter Inderjeet Singh has been in incredible form in 2015 and has been one of the shining lights for India in almost every competition that he has participated in. The 27-year-old has won the gold in every competition that he has taken part in and has broken a spree of records in the process.

However, amidst the celebrations, Indejeet has also encountered unbelievable hardships in his quest to fulfill his and his nation’s dreams. Inderjeet is preparing for the biggest event of his career – the 2016 Rio Olympics. Unfortunately though, ahead of this daunting challenge, he is facing a major crisis financially.

Here are things that you need to know about Inderjeet

He dedicates each of his wins to his father.

Inderjeet, who was very close to his father, has said that he works in the memory of his dad Gurdayal Singh, who worked in Northern Coalfields. Singh’s father passed away in 2007, which put a significant financial strain on the family.

Inderjeet and his family sold most of their ancestral and family property to fund his training.

The athlete’s father was the major breadwinner of the family. Following his death, the family was plunged into significant turmoil and sold off the two shops the family owned in their native village to be able to finance Inderjeet’s extensive training and dietary needs.

He uses headlights of trucks and cars to train at night.

To help his success, Inderjeet often trains late into the evening and night. With no floodlights to illuminate the area he trained in, he switches on the headlights of trucks and cars parked nearby to see as he practiced. Despite these conditions, he was able to hone his skills and reach his personal best at the time of 20.65m at the Federation Cup.

He has had a fabulous time in 2015.

We are just over halfway into the year, but Inderjeet has already won a staggering 8 gold medals this year so far and has broken the Asian Grand Prix record for the longest throw, at the second leg of the Asian Grand Prix games in Pathumthani, Thailand.

His personal best almost beat the national record!

Inderjeet threw his personal best of 20.65m at the Federations Cup earlier this year – this won him the gold at the event. The distance is only 0.4m less than the all-time national record, held by Om Prakash Singh.

He also broke a long-standing record.

At the National Interstate Senior Athletics championships in Chennai, Inderjeet threw 20.44m. In doing so, he broke the record of 20.41m which had been held for the past 15 years, by his current mentor, Shakti Singh.

He threw his best in shoes too small for him.

At the World University Games in Kazan, Russia in 2013, Inderjeet won a silver medal while competing in shoes a size too small for him after the airlines had misplaced his luggage.

He is the first Indian athlete to win a track-and-field medal in the World University Games.

Inderjeet won a silver medal at the 2013 World University Games in Kazan. This was India’s first track-and-field medal at any edition of the World University Games.

He is one of the strongest men in the country.

This does not merely refer to his gargantuan physical stature – Inderjeet stands at 6 feet 4 inches and a staggering 150 kilograms – but his immense mental tenacity. Having lost his father, whom he was very close to, and then being forced to train in terrible conditions and sacrificing nearly everything he and his family had to train, Inderjeet has shown great mental strength.

Fighting through all these troubles to find the success he has shows how truly strong Inderjeet is, and that he needs all the support he can get going forward.

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.