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Target: 17 Meters
Ace Athlete
Amarjit Singh aims to cross the barrier in Triple Jump for a
permanent place in record books
WSN Bureau
 Born and brought up in the backwaters of the border district
of Gurdaspur in Punab, Triple Jump athlete, standing at 6.4 feet
with a muscular athletic body, Amarjit Singh is famous far and wide,
not only in
Punjab and India but the rest of the world as well. He learnt the
ropes from none other than his father Dalbir Singh, who was a well
known Kabbaddi player of his times and his elder brother Gurmeet
Singh, who too is a national athlete.
In December 2000, he jumped to fame started with a 16 metre
record jump at the All India Inter-varsity meet at
Lyalpur Khalsa
College, Jalandhar. This was followed with a Silver medal in the
Inter-state meet at Lucknow in 2001 and in 2002, the young, tall and
lanky athlete secured the fourth position in the Fourth Asian Grand
Prix Championships and reserved his berth amongst the top athletes
of the country. In the same year, he jumped 16.12 metres and
secured the fourth position in the Asian Athletic Championships.
Amarjit continued the winning streak. From 2002 to 2008, he
participated and won medals in the inter-state, Open athletics,
Federation Cup, SAF games, Grand Prix tournaments and other
international competitions. Making a new mark become a habit. At the
Asian Indoor Athletic Championships at
Qatar, his record
was 16.24 and that won him a silver medal. At the Malaysian Open
National Athletics Championship he broke all records and jumped
16.64 metres. In September 2008, at the Asian All Star
Championships in
Bhopal,
he secured the third position.
Having reached thus far, Amarjit aims to stand on the medal
stands at the Olympics and World Athletic Championships. The
regularity of his record is a tribute to his gamesmanship,
dedication and technical excellence. Though leading long jump
athlete Anju Bobby George failed in all the three attempts at the
last Olympics, Amarjit has rarely “jumped the bar”, which speaks of
his diligence and technical expertise.
The next target is 17 metres. Like the proverbial eye of the
fish aimed by Arjun in Mahabarta, Amarjit Singh also does not dither
from this target. He is working zealously for the upcoming
Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the Chinese Asian Games in the same
year.
Having participated in more than 41 recognised championships
all over the country and globe, in which he has secured 23 gold
medal, 10 silver medals and 2 bronze medals. Three times, he has
been placed at the fourth and fifth position.
Like all modern athletes, Amarjit too is scouting for support
and sponsorships. Till the companies arrive, are the Sikhs and
Punjabis listening?
15
April 2009
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