BENGALURU: "The news came as a huge shock," said athelete Ashwini Nachappa. "It was also extremely unfortunate that he is not there to collect the award he had wanted for a long time."
That was Ashwini's reaction to former athletics coach Purushotham Rai's passing away in Bengaluru on August 28.
It was tragic for the entire Rai family, who would have loved to see his efforts being recognised with the Dronacharya award (lifetime category) in a virtual ceremony on Saturday. The 79-year-old had attended the rehearsal in Bengaluru on Thursday as well.
Purushotham Rai’s name was also recommended by 1994 Arjuna awardee Rosa Kutty and 2018 Dronacharya Awardee VR Beedu.
“It must have been so heartbreaking for the family, such a difficult time for them…he was a great coach and one of the most hardworking coaches. His death is a big loss,” said Beedu.
Rai started his coaching career in 1974, and trained some of the well-known Indian athletes, including Ashwini, Kutty and MK Asha. As a coach, he was someone who always offered encouragement to his wards. Ashwini, who had called Rai to congratulate him for the award last week, believes he ignited that spark in her athletics career.
“I started as a young kid of around 10 years under his guidance. He was a great mentor and a great motivator. He was great at handling kids at that time. At the age, it is so much important that you look upon somebody and have that complete trust. He was the one who showed me the way and ignited that spark to take up athletics. That is how my journey also began,” said Ashwini, who won the Arjuna Award in 1988.
Many of the athletes he coached brought laurels to the country. Ashwini herself won silver in the 4x100m relay event at the 1990 Asian Games, Kutty won silver at the 1998 Asian Games in 800m. Some of his wards — Asha, Pramila GG and others clinched medals at other international meets as well. Besides being a good coach, he was also known as a humble being, loved by many.
It was Rai’s training methods, which was considered special that helped athletes at various levels. Karnataka Athletics Association CEO Elvis Joseph explained how his different training ideologies set him apart from other coaches.
“He was one of the most knowledgeable coaches I have ever seen. His patience towards building an athlete was very different. As a coach, he was very passionate about defining what training is for every individual athlete. It was customised training with different perspectives. He wanted to understand the athlete first. Rai sir was special, in terms of his ideology towards training. We have lost one of the legendary coaches.” said the official.
The KAA and Karnataka Olympic Association also condoled Rai's death.