With Father Battling Cancer, Tajinderpal Wins Gold In Asian Games 2018

A full energy swing and Tajinderpal Singh Toor’s shot put was up in the air. The landing of the shot put was followed by an applauding audience and a gold medal for Tajinder in Men’s shot put, setting new Asiad record. This was not an easy journey for the 23-year-old as he had to leave his ailing father, who is battling cancer, in the hospital. Even at the time of mental and emotional distress, Tajinder did not lose hope and pursued his passion.

Hailing from Moga district, Punjab, Tajinder made a new national record. He threw his iron ball to 20.75m, breaking a six-year-old record that was set by Om Prakash Karhana (20.69m).

“All my sacrifices have paid”

According to the Times of India, Tajinder did not think about winning a Gold. All he aimed was to breach the 21m mark. Speaking about sacrifices, he said, “I had just one aim in mind. I wanted to clear 21 meters. I did not think of gold. But, I am happy with this. I was trying hard to break the national record for the last 2-3 years, and it happened today, that too with a Meet record.”

The emotionally overwhelmed Tajinder said that this feat means a lot to him and his family. He goes on to say that this gold medal is a result of a lot of sacrifices that he has made. “For the last two years, my father (Karam Singh) has been battling with cancer. My family though never let me get distracted. They allowed me to chase my dream. My family and friends have made a lot of sacrifices and all those have paid today,” Tajinder said after winning the gold.

He says his friends took good care of his father and hospital formalities. In fact, Tajinder’s family did not ever pressurize him to attend his ailing father in the hospital. “I have not gone home much in this period since I was training,” he added. The athlete was getting trained in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh by his coach MS Dhillon.

Giving credits to his coach for his victory, he also said that he will be going home now to meet his dad and will be there for the next two days. The athlete will be preparing himself for the next challenge. This is the eighth gold medal for India in men’s shot put in the history of the Asian Games.

Coach wanted to make Tajinderpal angry

“You die of shame,” shouted Tajinderpal’s coach while he was getting ready for his last shot put throw. While speaking to The Times of India, Mr Dhillon said he wanted Tajinder to be angry. “I told him, I have left my family for you and your father is fighting cancer. Think of us,” said Dhillon.

He further said, he was not ready to go to the Commonwealth Games as his father is battling cancer. “I had to persuade him to go since it would have been a very good experience ahead of the Asian Games,” he added.
Talking about Tajinderpal’s training he said, “He was in good form in the CWG but he could not do well. I trained him in Delhi, where his father was undergoing treatment. Later his father was moved to Patiala. From Patiala, Tajinderpal would come to Delhi in every three to four days to attend his father.”

His previous achievements

In August 2017, Tajinder won a silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar missing out on the gold medal by 0.03m. Tajinder had set his record throw of 20.40m at the Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships in Patiala in June 2017. Earlier this year, at the Commonwealth Games finals, Tajinder finished eighth with a throw.

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