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HomeSportDehydrated & hurting, triple-jump gold medalist Arpinder wanted to break national record

Dehydrated & hurting, triple-jump gold medalist Arpinder wanted to break national record

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Athlete says he wanted to break the national record but was dehydrated and his calves were hurting.

New Delhi: When Arpinder Singh won gold at the Asian Games in Jakarta on 30 August, India’s joy knew no bounds. The 25-year-old from Amritsar has not only added to India’s largest gold haul at any Asiad, he has quenched the nation’s thirst to win the triple jump event after 48 years.

Arpinder leaped 16.77 metres to bag the gold medal. In the process, he defeated Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Kurbanov (16.62m) and China’s Shuo Cao (16.56m).

India’s last gold medal in this event came via Mohinder Singh Gill in 1970 in Bangkok.

But India’s new hero admitted he was not satisfied with his performance, saying he had wanted to break Renjith Maheshwary’s national record of 17.30 m.

“It’s gold so it’s okay, but I wanted to go better than the national record. I was dehydrated after three jumps, that’s why there were fouls after that. The performance was going up and down. My calves were hurting,” Arpinder was quoted as saying by PTI.

A difficult event

Triple jump is also known as ‘hop, step, and jump’. It has been part of the Olympics since the very first modern edition in Athens in 1896.

An athlete makes a horizontal jump for distance incorporating three distinct and continuous movements—a hop, in which the athlete takes off and lands on the same foot; a step, landing on the other foot; and a jump, landing in any manner, usually with both feet together. However, if the athlete touches the ground with the wrong foot, a foul jump is called.


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It also differs from the long jump in terms of the technicality that an athlete takes off on both legs, instead of a single leg like in the long jump. It needs strong legs and even stronger ankles.

John Williams, a former athlete who coaches the triple jump at Butler Golden Tornado Track and Field coaching centre in the United States, told ThePrint: “Triple jump requires a proper combination of speed and power in order to achieve the proper jump.”

Zlatozar Atanasov, a former Bulgarian national champion in triple jump, told ThePrint: “It is one of the toughest disciplines and requires lots of practice and stamina. Also, the chances of injury are higher than any other track-and-field event.”

Arpinder’s difficult road to glory

Arpinder was born in Amritsar on 30 December 1992. He took a liking to track and field as a teenager and practiced at the Sports Authority of India. Arpinder’s father Jagbir Singh, an armyman who played kabaddi, encouraged him to play sports.

Arpinder tried his luck at 100m and 200m sprints. He also took part in the 400m event and long jump as well. He switched to triple jump on the advice of his SAI coach D.S. Bahl.

Later on, he trained under coach S.S. Pannu, who took him to new heights.

Arpinder made his breakthrough at the age of 22 in 2014, when he jumped 17.17m at the inter-state championships in Lucknow, breaking the record previously held by Renjith Maheshwary. This remains his personal best. The record got him a ticket to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where he secured a bronze medal. He finished fifth at that year’s Asiad in Incheon.


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In 2016, Maheshwary took back the national record by jumping 17.30m. But Arpinder kept doing well and competed at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, earlier this year, finishing fourth.

In his spare time, Arpinder enjoys watching movies and photography. His favourite actor is Akshay Kumar.

Arpinder will next participate in the IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and will be representing the Asia-Pacific team.

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