NEW DELHI: Living truly up to his name, Bahadur Prasad came up with a “brave” effort to win the 1500 meters ‘gold at Nehru Stadium. Making light of ‘an injury, he dashed off to an impressive finish to pocket the gold and send the 6,000odd spectators to raptures.
I am fortunate to have won despite clocking 3:45,77minutes. But considering the fact that I have still not fully recovered from a calf injury (sustaining), Lamsoon after his gold winning effort.
Bahadur has taken lesser time (0 cover the distance in his three previous efforts. He clocked 3:44.4 at the Madras Nationals in September, The following week at the Masters Meet at Trivandrum, he returned a time of 3:45.0 and then came that great effort at the New Delhi Permit Meet, where his 3:43.4 performance erased the national record (3:43,7), which stood for 23 years in name of Edward Sequeira.
What was his strategy for Saturday’s final? “Well, my coach had told me to stay with the pack till the last lap. It was ‘only in the last 300 meters that I believed that I could win, revealed the 24yearold ticket collector with the Railways.
Bahadur, who hails from the Balia district of Uttar Pradesh, had initially taken to marathon. In 1987, he switched over to 5,000 metres and has been quite successful. He rewrote the record books at last month’s South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Telamahad.
He trains under Harry Wilson, the well-known British coach. “He (Wilson) has helped me improve by technique. And by the time of next year’s Beijing Asiad, I hope to cut down on my timing further,” said a confident Bahadur.
What about Sunday’s 5,000 meters final? “Well, there are three other participants who have recorded better timings. So I can’t really say. But after today’s effort, I feel I can upset the odds, signed off Bahadur.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 1, 1989
