Olympian Charles Borromeo never knew athletics would fetch stardom till he entered the portals of St. Xavier’s College in Ahmedabad.
He had been a footballer till then, excelling as a left forward. In fact, the performance of Charles in football at various competitions earned him a seat under sports quota.
Athletics coach at the college Subash Patel was quick to spot his agility and endurance. Then came the turning point in Charles’ sports career.
Two years of rigorous training saw him as a serious contender in 800 m at the all-India inter University athletics meet, and a winner of bronze medal in the same event at the 1979 open nationals.
Confidence swelled then on. “I started putting in a lot of hard work. Mr. Patel lent great support. He not only fine-turned my strengths, but also worked on eliminating my weaknesses. His role was very crucial in shaping me as a competitive athlete,” recalls the Arjuna awardee.
Borromeo’s moment of glory came in the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games, when he won 800 metres gold in record time.
“Being the Asian champion was an unbelievable feeling. Days like those are very special.”
Dream accomplished:
He also accomplished his dream of making it to the Olympics when he represented the country at the 1984 Los Angeles games. “That’s the dream of any athlete. I am one among the sportspersons in the country to achieve the Olympian tag,” says Borromeo, who won silver medal at the 1985 Asian Track &Field event and gold medal in the South Asian Federation (SAF) games the same year. He was conferred the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth highest civilian award, in 1984.
Hailing from a lower-middle class family in Devakottai in Sivaganga district, Borromeo studied at De Britto School, which has produced a good number of international athletes including Asian Gold medalist R.Gnana Sekaran.
“Football was the most popular sport in our town and a lot of tournaments used to take place. That was one of the major reasons for developing interest in the game. Also, one gets instant recognition among the local fans when he nets a lot of goals,” he smiles.
Soon after graduation, Borromeo joined Tata Steel at Jamshedpur. Working as a Sports Manager, he loves spending time interacting with the youngsters and sharing his experience with them.
But why didn’t he take up coaching after hanging up his boots? “I was interested in character building of sportspersons. At the Tata Academy, I urge the youngsters to be good human beings in the first place. Character matters more and I feel a sports person should be exceptional both on and off the field,” says Borromeo, who has been recently nominated by the Athletics Federation of India as a member of the monitoring committee for long, middle-distance and walking events for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
www.rajagiriworld.com
[IMG]http://www.rajagiriworld.com/happy.gif[/IMG]
No comments:
Post a Comment