New Delhi [India], October 2 (ANI): After the conclusion of their respective Asian Games campaign, two Punjab athletes who raised the tricolour high on the global level, one a veteran shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor and the other, a rising star sprinter Gurindervir Singh, brought back home two different stories.
The three-time Asian Games medalist Toor presented his never-say-die attitude and tiger mentality after falling down so many times, while Gurindervir presented a more humane side of an athlete who at times copes with performance stress, trying to self-improve, make his heroics catch up with the hype received from fans.
After back-to-back Asian Games gold medals, Tajinder did produce a hat-trick of shot put medals at the continental showpiece with a silver, producing an effort of 20.64 m, well short of his national record of 21.77 metres. On the other hand, the national 100 m record-holder Gurindervir, who finished fifth in his discipline individually, managed to secure his name in the Asian Games medal tally with a bronze medal in the mixed 4x100m relay.
Speaking after returning home at Delhi airport with the athletics contingent, Toor told ANI that he expected to win gold, but missed it by a few centimetres because of rain. He also spoke about the doubt people had about his selection ahead of the event, and he replied to them not only with a medal, but also a social media statement saying that “Toor is here”. Clearly not finished achieving more glory for his nation, Toor remarked, “Tiger abhi zinda hai” (tiger is still alive).
“It feels very good, but I was expecting to win the gold medal. The gold medal slipped away by just 17 centimetres. It was raining heavily as well, but I am happy that I won a medal for the country,” said Toor about his medal.
In his social media post, he said, “During my selection at the Inter-State event, I finished third due to an injury. Many people were asking questions like, “Why are you taking him along?” That is why I said, “Toor is still here.” Tiger abhi zinda hai (The tiger is still alive),” he added.
The athlete said that he could have done well this season, noting his consistent throws of 21.50 during practice, and his further target is the 22 m mark and Olympic glory after injuries at Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024 campaigns curtailed his performances.
“Moving forward, this year I could have done very well—I was throwing beyond 21.50 meters during practice. So my target for next year is to touch 22 meters. Also, my last two Olympics did not go very well—I had a wrist injury in one and an ankle injury in the other. So I hope to give my best performance in the upcoming LA 2028 Olympics,” he said.
Gurindervir, who rose to fame this year with a record-breaking performance at the Federation Cup, becoming the first Indian man to clock sub-10.10 seconds in the men’s 100m with a sensational national record time of 10.09 seconds, has not quite delivered as per expectations. During the Commonwealth Games 2026, a hamstring injury affected his campaign so much that he finished in 28th place across all heats, clocking 10.39 seconds and failing to make it to the medal rounds. This time at Aichi-Nagoya, Gurindervir finished fifth in the semifinal with a time of 10.32 seconds, but won a bronze medal in the mixed 4×100 m relay with Animesh Kujur, a man he has had national record trading duels with, Harita Bhadra, Sneha Gowda and Abinaya Rajarajan.
Speaking to ANI, he spoke about his resolve to work harder to win more medals for his country, while admitting on a very human note that he fell to the “stress of winning”. However, the bronze medal in the relay has liberated him from stress, and the athlete vows to stay the same to bring more glory to the tricolour.
“It is a matter of great joy for me that I could win a medal for my country. Moving forward, we will work even harder and win more medals for the country. There is no shortcoming (in technique). But sometimes, you are not mentally prepared for it. If you overthink or take on too much stress, you cannot perform the way you want to. That is what happened with me—I took on too much stress about winning. I was under stress about many things for a long time. Now that I’ve won a medal, that stress is gone. Moving forward, I will train stress-free and compete stress-free to win medals,” he said.
On being compared with late athletics legend and the ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh, Gurindervir feels good about it but does not think about the comparison while running.
“People compare me and associate my name with Milkha Singh, which feels good. But it’s not like I think about that while running. While running, I only focus on trusting the hard work I have put in. That is all,” he said. (ANI)
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