More than 500 athletes from 40 countries competed in the19th Asian athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan from July 7 to 10. Athletes from exactly half of the competing teams, that is 20 nations shared the 126 medals at stake, but Pakistan was not one of them. In fact, Pakistan last won a track and field medal at Asian level, at either Asian games or Asian championships way back in 1994.
Since then it has been a medal drought. It must be mentioned that the biennial Asian Athletics Championships began only in 1973. Prior to this the quadrennial Asian Games were the sole occasion where the athletes from the continent competed against each other. Pakistan debuted at the second Asian games in 1954 and made an instant impression, winning four golds and as many silvers.
It might seem unbelievable but during that period Pakistani athletes not only dominated the Asian scene but even shone at the world level. One would immediately point out that Pakistan has never won an Olympic medal in track and field. Pertinent to mention that in those days, the Olympics were the only stage where athletes from all over the world competed.
The World Athletics Championships only started in 1983 and there were no grand prix athletics meets either. While Pakistan may not have won an athletics medal at the Olympics, yet then a number of our boys produced world class performances. Abdul Khaliq was the Fastest Man of Asia, winning the 100 metres sprint twice (1954, 1958). Short but beautifully muscled, Khaliq excelled at the Olympics as well.
In the 1956 Olympiad, he was at his peak, reaching the semifinals of 100 and 200 metres and narrowly missing qualification for the final in both. His best timing in 100 metres was 10.4 sec, equal to that of the last Olympics (1952) gold winner. In 200 metres, his performance was even more astonishing. He won both the first two rounds clocking 21.1 seconds. Unfortunately, Khaliq failed to repeat the same time in the semifinal. His time was the best for all the rounds, except the final. These achievements placed him in top seven sprinters of the time.
Ghulam Raziq was a world class hurdler who did win every honour other than an Olympic medal. Two golds and a silver in three Asiads (1958, 62 & 66), gold at the Commonwealth Games (1962) were his major triumphs. Long-limbed Raziq had ideal physical attributes for a hurdler – speed, agility and suppleness. Raziq too had shone at the Olympics, reaching the semifinals in 1956 and 1960.
Then there was the giant figure of Mohammad Iqbal, the hammer thrower. Iqbal won a complete set of medals gold, silver and bronze in three Asiads (1954, 58 and 62). In more competitive environs of the Commonwealth Games, he grabbed gold in 1954, and silver four years later. In the 1956 Olympics, he was amongst the first ten, at 10th.
Another great Pakistani athlete who attained remarkable success in throwing events was Mohammad Nawaz, with javelin. Nawaz narrowly failed to achieve a hat-trick of Asiad golds. Having won gold in the previous two editions, he was narrowly beaten to second place in the 1962 Asiad. Nawaz’s Asian record stood for about two decades. At the Commonwealth Games, he bagged silver in 1954 and at the 1956 Olympics, he was a creditable 13th.
Pakistan also produced a remarkable long distance athlete by the name of Mubarak Shah. He has a distinction that no Pakistani sportsman achieved in any discipline – winning two golds in a single Asiad. In 1962, Shah won the 3000 metres steeple chase as well as the 5000 metres, creating a new Asian record in both. He had a good chance in the 10,000 metres but the scheduling forced him to withdraw.
The steeple chase gold at the 1958 Asiad give Mubarak the unique record: three individual Asiad golds. To emphasise the magnitude of their achievements, how would it be to have a Pakistani tennis player in world’s top 7-12 rankings? Awesome! Khaliq, Raziq, Nawaz and Iqbal attained comparable status. At the Olympics, track and field has forever been the top draw– and is dubbed ‘Mother of all Sports’.
However after those ‘golden five’, Pakistan failed to produce a real world class athlete. A few did shine at the Asian level. Middle distance runner, Mohammad Younis performed consistently well – winning silver, gold and silver at 1,500 metres in the 1970, 74 and 78 Asiads. In the inaugural Asian athletics championships in 1973, Younis narrowly missed out on the middle distance runner’s double – beaten to silver in his favourite 1,500m after winning gold in 800m gold.
In the same event, Pakistan fetched another gold through the javelin thrower Allah Dad. After 1974, Ghulam Abbas (400m hurdles) won gold in the 1990 Asian Games. And, since then nothing. What was special about the athletes of the 1950s and early 1960s? They were army soldiers and all came from the Potohar area of the Punjab. Had a great mentor in Brig Rodham, who ensured proper coaching and regular international competition for them.
Perhaps more importantly, they were all primarily kabaddi players before joining army. Kabaddi, the traditional sport of Punjab’s villages, is regarded by many as the nearest thing to a complete sport. It builds all the major attributes – speed, stamina, strength and the most vital, killer-instinct. Athletics is one sporting discipline not requiring many resources. Poor countries like Kenya and Ethiopia are major powers.
In Kenya, in the 1960s, the European priests were amazed to observe that the local children daily walked and ran miles on hills to reach the school. They thought about utilizing this immense stamina of poor kids into something beneficial. Hence, they devised the plan to groom these kids as long distance runners. The rest is history. For the last four decades, Kenya has been a dominating force in distance running.
Coming back to the recent 19th Asian event, countries not only much smaller than us but also without topnotch facilities figured on the medals’ table. Such as, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Syria, Lebanon, etc. The parliament’s standing committee on sports is always keen to grill the PCB and PHF bosses whenever performances dip. Pakistan’s Athletics Federation deserves similar attention for being in decline for 40 years.
Pakistan – Once kings, now paupers
