Senior athlete Piara Singh Bhullar had done enough to earn a place on the podium. Or so he thought.
Competing in the 400m final at the World Masters Athletics Championship in Daegu, South Korea on Sept 1, he finished third against nine of the world’s top runners in his age group.
But there was to be no bronze medal for him.
He had been disqualified for a lane infringement.
“I gave my very best and believed I had captured the bronze for Canada, but it was not to be,” Mr Piara, 80, told tabla!.
His son, Singaporean Avtar S. Bhullar, 44, explained that his father may have touched the lane with his foot when the 400m lanes merged with the 100m lanes after the 300m mark.
Earlier, on Aug 25, Mr Piara had competed in the 800m event, finishing fourth in 3:06.32. The race was won by American Gary Patton, the World Masters record holder, in 2:56.48.
In that race, Mr Piara had been among the frontrunners for much of the 800m but slowed down because of the extreme heat. He said: “I could have done better, but I was scared I might not even finish the race.”
Mr Piara promised himself to go all out in the 400m event. He did and finished third, only to lose the medal on a technicality.
A lifetime of running
Born in Amritsar on June 12, 1946, Mr Piara began running out of necessity rather than sporting ambition.
His school was about 8km from his home, and he would run the distance there and back regularly.
He only took athletics seriously when he joined the Indian Army in 1968. Ten years later, he joined Indian Railways.
He specialised in marathons and won numerous national and state medals, and, in 1981, he clocked an impressive 2:16.42 in the Indian national marathon trials.
He also came in fourth in the Pyongyang international Marathon in North Korea in 1981.
As he grew older, he moved away from marathons and took up the 400m, 800m and 1,500m events, amassing even more trophies.
After retiring as a senior ticket inspector, he migrated to Canada in 2005 with his eldest son and his family.
There, his achievements included being part of the team that holds the national 4x800m record for men aged 75 years. With a time of 2:56, Mr Piara was the fastest of the winning quartet.
He is also a world record holder and has won gold medals in the 800m and 1,500m at the National Games for athletes aged 75.
Last year, Mr Piara won silver medals in the 800m and 1,500m at the Asia Masters Athletics Championships, which feature age categories for athletes aged 35 and above.
No bitterness
The Daegu disappointment is not the first setback Mr Piara has faced in his long athletic career.
In 1985, aged 39, he was preparing to represent India at the inaugural World Cup Marathon in Hiroshima, held to mark 40 years since the atomic bombing of the Japanese city. He was then at the peak of his athletic performance. But a knee injury disrupted his training for two months just before the marathon.
When he finally competed, he was well below his best, and his finishing time was far slower than his personal best.
More than four decades later, this recent disappointment has not changed his outlook. As he philosophically puts it: “As long as you win more than you lose, you’re still ahead.”
tabla@sph.com.sg
