Manjit Wins 800m Gold, Recreats 36 Year Old Record!
Jakarta: Being
fifth for a majority part of the 800m Men’s Final, India’s Manjit Singh
surprised everyone as he dashed ahead out of nowhere in the final 100m to bag
the gold, ahead of compatriot Jinson Johnson on Tuesday, 28th August
2018. No Indian male has won the 800m gold since Charles Borromeo in 1982 at
the Games in Delhi.
Johnson, who recently broke Sriram Singh’s national record, went in as a gold medal favourite after having won his semi-final heat. Manjit, in fact, had qualified for the final as the eighth fastest runner.
Johnson, who recently broke Sriram Singh’s national record, went in as a gold medal favourite after having won his semi-final heat. Manjit, in fact, had qualified for the final as the eighth fastest runner.
When the
final started, Jinson was right up there with the two leaders, Qatar’s Abubaker
Abdalla and Abraham Rotich, who were favourites to win along with the Indian.
The first lap was completed in less than a minute. At this point, Manjit was
nowhere in the picture.
The
Qataris upped the pace and tried to break away from the group once into the
second lap. The two Indians were still a part of the leading group.
As the participants neared the last 100m, it was race to the finish line, and everybody wanted to outdo the other. Out of nowhere, Manjit Singh raised his game, and got into the picture and how. One would imagine that the leaders by then were running low on energy given the humidity at the venue, while Manjit still had plenty of stamina left within him at that point.
Manjit then moved into the outside lane and first ran past Rotich, then came in right parallel to Johnson, and then burst past Abdalla to run to gold out of nowhere! There could not have been a more brilliant run on the home stretch as India bagged the 800m after 1982. India last managed a 1-2 in the event for the first time since 1966 win Bhogeswar Barua and Ramaswamy Subramanian won gold-silver.
28 year old Manjit doesn’t have a permanent job yet, and has been on a contract with ONGC. His sensational gold should help improve his situation.
As the participants neared the last 100m, it was race to the finish line, and everybody wanted to outdo the other. Out of nowhere, Manjit Singh raised his game, and got into the picture and how. One would imagine that the leaders by then were running low on energy given the humidity at the venue, while Manjit still had plenty of stamina left within him at that point.
Manjit then moved into the outside lane and first ran past Rotich, then came in right parallel to Johnson, and then burst past Abdalla to run to gold out of nowhere! There could not have been a more brilliant run on the home stretch as India bagged the 800m after 1982. India last managed a 1-2 in the event for the first time since 1966 win Bhogeswar Barua and Ramaswamy Subramanian won gold-silver.
28 year old Manjit doesn’t have a permanent job yet, and has been on a contract with ONGC. His sensational gold should help improve his situation.
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