MUMBAI: Arpinder Singh had heard it plenty of times before: ‘you can’t do it!’ He had to quash that voice of doubt that kept haunting him in the run-up to his event at the Asian Games.
On August 29, at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Arpinder took the leap of faith, jumped 16.77m to claim India’s first triple jump gold in 48 years.
“I was the only one pursuing athletics in my village (Harsha Chhina in Amritsar),” says Arpinder, who was in Mumbai for a promotional event on Tuesday.
“My father supported me through everything. But people in the village always used to say ‘he’s going to amount to nothing’. Rather than encouraging me, they used to talk me down. That criticism spurred me on.”
Arpinder had started his athletics journey with the 100m at the age of 12 and after having tried out 200m, 400m and long jump, he found his calling in triple jump.
“At that time, I did not know what triple jump was. Hop karte hain, jump karte hain... I learned it in a month,” says the 25-year-old. “I had a major back problem in 2006 and was advised bed-rest for three months. Many said my career was over but my father always had my back. In 2007, I won my first medal in the school nationals and that was really important.”
The athlete rose to fame by winning a bronze at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Arpinder was sent to London to train for a year and prepare for the Rio Olympics qualification.
Though the stint in London helped him become more independent — he learned to cook and would cycle 13-14 kms every day to get to the track — Arpinder’s mind was muddled by the change in technique.
His coach in London, John Herbert, wanted him to get more vertical momentum and he ended up changing his entire body movement around it. He was unable to make it to Rio but has come back stronger.
A few days after his Asiad feat, Arpinder posted another high, winning bronze at the World Continental championship, becoming the first Indian to do so. One would imagine he has earned himself a bit of rest but that is not so.
“My dad told me to come home. He said the villagers were happy and would come to greet me,” he says.
“But I’ve been busy training for the Open Nationals.”