For the majority of the shot put contest on Friday, the challenge for Tajinderpal Toor wasn't to keep himself ahead of the pack. It was simply to help him realise his actual potential. And for that, he is being reminded of the sacrifices made simply to step up to the throwing circle in the first place. "Yaad rakh (remember)," a voice will shout into his ear. And Tajinder does, as he remembers why he competes. Within the first throw of the contest, the 23-year old had all but sealed the final. Following his opening throw of 19.96, Tajinder would flash a big thumbs up to some of his Asian Games compatriots who were sitting in the stands behind him. "Gold toh pakki (gold is sure)," Tajinder's roommate and triple jumper, Arpinder Singh, who was live streaming the competition on Facebook immediately noted. It is not his technique that he must remember - that Tajinder has down. Before each of his six throws, he shadow trains for the same, pirouetting his massive six foot, 130 kg frame with surprising grace before launching a towel heavenwards. He handles the 7.6 kilo ball of iron with as much grace. It holds no fears for him. At one point, he twirls it over his right hand like a leg spinner pre-delivery. He's finding the going easy but that itself, the people in the stands to his left, know could cause him to lose his focus. Yifan Ding/Getty Images "Soch kis liye khel raha hai (think why you are playing). Focus now, " discus thrower Seema Antil shouts at him. More of the same comes comes from his coach Mohinder Singh Dhillon. "Remember why you are playing. Exert all your efforts. Even if you break, get the throw out," Dhillon hollers. The big throws follow. In his penultimate effort of the competition, Tajinder propels the iron ball to a mammoth 20.75m. It's the furthest-ever distance recorded by an Indian and the most by any athlete at the Asian Games. This is an athlete at the peak of his physical powers. It was not always this way. Not even a few months ago, when Tajinder was preparing for the Asian Games. His coach felt that Tajinder, for all his talent, was throwing it away. For the 23-year-old giant, it seemed he was being asked to make an impossible choice. On the one hand, he wanted to accomplish his goals at the Commonwealth Games. For that, he would have to train every day and push himself. But he also wanted to be at home, in the village of Khos Pando, a speck on the map west of Ludhiana. To be there by the side of his father, Karam Singh, who is suffering from throat cancer. "He was in a bad condition when Tajinder was going to the Commonwealth Games and he was in bad shape when he returned." Dhillon says. "Whenever Tajinder was in practice in Patiala he would always be leaving for a day here or a day there when he wanted to go home to his village." Dhillon, who has been working with Tajinder for the last five years, understood the hard choice he was placing before his ward. "He had been unable to train (at his best) because he had been traveling to visit this father. I told him I know that your father is the most important person for you but there are times you have to chose. He had the opportunity to do something great but he had to make that his priority," Dhillon says. Tajinderpal Singh Toor in action during the shot put final ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images When Tajinder wavered, it was his father who himself urged him on. Dhillon says, "I was apologising to his father because of what I was asking his son to do but he just waved his hands as if to say to get on with it." Just to ensure there were few distractions, Dhillon even had Tajinder's pre-Asian training camp shifted from Patiala in Punjab to the high altitude center in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. "I wanted Tajinder to realise that he couldn't travel home and back even if he wanted." The end of the impasse allowed Tajinder to concentrate on his sport and Dhillon knew that once he focussed, he would excel. Scouted by Dhillon, 65, at a University-level meet back in 2013, Tajinder was an average thrower, but to the old coach, there was enough about the 18-year old that impressed him. "He has incredible explosive strength that makes him a natural athlete and he's also very respectful and obedient," Dhillon says, "Even today if I shout at him, he will look downcast." Dhillon can recognise ability when he sees it, having coached five Asian medallists over the years. With Tajinder's focus entirely on his game now, the final piece of this puzzle appears to have fallen in place. On Saturday night in Jakarta, Tajinder hears his coach's voice floating in from the empty stands once again. "Tune karna hai (You have to do it). You should be with your father, but because you aren't, you have to make it count. This time won't come again," Dhillon reminds him. The moment was seized with a 20.75m heave and following his victory, Tajinder wants to set his sights even higher. While he would certainly have qualified for the last Olympics final with a similar throw - the automatic cut-offs for the finals in 2016 were in the 20.65m range - Tajinder wants to think bigger. "My goal here was to cross 21m. I fell just short of that. But I will have to touch 22m if I want to compete at the Olympics," he says. That, though, can wait a while. Tajinder's immediate need is to speak to his family and let them know the sacrifices they have all made have worked. The first thing he does is to call his mother. He asks her to explain to his father that he has won. "I can't speak to my father. Because of the cancer in his throat, he can't speak to me over the phone.<doc-sep>READ ALSO: CHANDIGARH: As soon as he won the shot put gold in Jakarta, Tajinderpal Singh Toor dedicated the medal to his ailing father, Sardar Karam Singh, who is suffering from cancer. His father's bone cancer is in the fourth stage and has now spread to the brain. He is battling for life at the Command Hospital in Panchkula.Tuesday's gold was a son's gift to his father who had encouraged him to take up shot put. "Like most Indian boys, he (Tajinder) was initially interested in cricket but Sardar ji insisted he should try an individual sport. I was actively involved in shot put. And that's how it happened to Tajinder," Gurdev Singh, Tajinder's uncle, told TOI.Gurdev is employed with the Punjab Police. Tajinderpal and his family come from Khosa Pando village in Moga district . His father and relatives are all farmers. A humble background and meagre means of income meant Tajinder always had to struggle to support his dream of becoming a professional shot putter.International quality shoes, food supplements and a professional gym are a must for any shot putter who wants to succeed at the top level. "The expenses go up manifold as one goes up the ladder," stressed Mohinder Singh Dhillon, Tajinder's coach. "You need better food supplements, you need to go to a better gym, need better shoes. "Before leaving for Jakarta, Tajinder talked about the problems he had to face. "I took to the sport in 2006. As I started doing well and reached the international level, the expenses went through the roof," he said. "For example, the shoes are really expensive. The ones that we wear for competitions cost around Rs 10,000, and they don't last more than two months. There is so much of wear and tear that one needs to change the shoes very often. "The monthly expenses on equipment, shoes and a professional training centre come to around Rs 50,000. Then a shot putter needs to take extra care of his body, maintain a very strict diet regimen, buy high quality food supplements – all this costs a lot of money," he added.Tajinder is an employee of the Indian Navy which has been taking care of his father's medical expenses.In 2015, his father was diagnosed with a form of skin cancer. But since the cancer was in its initial stage, a surgery was enough and his father recovered. But the next year, his father was diagnosed with bone cancer. Unfortunately, unlike the first time, the cancer was in its fourth stage.Thankfully for the family, Tajinder got a job with the Indian Navy at that time. "The biggest help for our family has come from the Indian Navy. It has been taking care of all the expenses, which has ensured that Tajinder focuses only on his game and trains peacefully," reflected Gurdev Singh.Right now, the son is rushing back to be by his father's bedside.<doc-sep>The gold medal would mean the greatest to Tajinderpal's father Karam Singh, battling bone cancer for a couple of years now. After all, it was he who suggested that Tajinderpal give up his obsession with cricket and pursue an individual sport. For a few creative headline writers back home, Tajinderpal Singh Toor’s gold medal in the Asian Games on Saturday presented a delightful opportunity to bring Tour de Force into play. For the Indians in the GBK Athletics Stadium in Jakarta, the feeling of pride and joy was overwhelming as was the hope that it would inspire the whole track and field team to push the limits. Truth to tell, the gold medal means different things to different people. For the uncomplicated man himself, this could open up some great avenues in life. He has been under Inderjeet Singh’s shadow, finishing fifth with 19.24m, in the 2015 Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea. And in the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar, the silver medal behind Iran’s Ali Samari meant that he had yet to do the hard yards. As someone who has been at it for half a dozen years now, it was important that this farmer’s son from Moga district in Punjab be seen as doing his best with each throw. It was important to duck the theory that Indian shot putters perform better in domestic competitions, racking up good distances, but not replicating them in international events. His consistent series on Saturday was testimony to his hunger to do his bit in ending that belief. His opening throw of 19.96m would have won him gold. He followed it up with 19.15m, his weakest effort and fouled the third attempt. But, driven by his coach Mohinder Singh Dhillon, he found motivation to get better and recorded 19.96, 20.00 and 20.75m for the Games record. The left-hander kept himself charged up despite the exit of Iran’s Shahin Mehredalan and Saudi Arabia’s Asian recod holder Sultan Abdulmajeed Alhebshi. It was a veritable testimony to the fact that he wanted to be in a zone of his own, beyond his own comfort zone on Saturday. This was the moment that he had perform at his best. For coach Dhillon, the gold comes as reward for all the hours of training that he has overseen in the past few years. Of course, like all gurus, he was a tad disappointed that Tajinderpal Singh Toor could not breach the 21m mark. That was the goal he had set his trainee for the night in anticipation of a big battle with the Iranian. For the powers-that-be who want to see an Olympic finalist in a field event in Tokyo two years later, the gold medal gives hope in the wake of discus thrower Vikas Gowda’s decline and retirement. The Athletics Federation of India and the Sports Authority of India would be delighted that their vision and management of his training has paid dividends. It had got India back on top of the podium in the Asian Games in an event in which it has rich legacy, having won eight gold medals through five throwers — Madan Lal (1951), the legendary Parduman Singh (1954, 1958), Joginder Singh (1966 and 1970), Bahadur Singh Chauhan (1978 and 1982) and finally Bahadur Singh Sagoo in Busan in 2002. In 2006 in Doha, Navpreet Singh had managed a fourth-place finish, his best of 18.99m being 45cm short of the bronze medal. Om Prakash Karhana got 19.17m four years later in Guangzhou but was only good for fourth place. Inderjeet Singh heaved the iron ball to 19.63m in Incheon and made it to the podium with a bronze medal finish. For the die-hard athletics fan, the start of India’s campaign in track and field sport could not have been better. An Asian Games gold with a record at that. Their expectations from the 50-member squad will soar higher than before. Come to think of it, the import of Tajinderpal Singh Toor’s gold medal goes far beyond the Games. For a couple of reasons, the shot put discipline in India has been in the throes of an identity crisis for a while. First, despite promising much, no Indian has won an Asian Games gold in the event since Bahadur Singh Sangoo in 2002. Second, the sceptre of doping has claimed many victims. Om Prakash Singh Karhana, who held the previous national record (20.65m) since 2012, has been too mercurial and did not deliver on the big stage. For someone who went past the 20m mark at home, he would frequently slip below 19m, if not to the low 18s, in big competitions. That raised a few questions, not the least about his temperament. World University Games champion Inderjeet Singh, on whom the AFI had pinned hopes, tested positive ahead of the Olympic Games in 2016 and is fighting a ban imposed on him by the National Anti Doping Authority. The junior shot putter Ankit Dahiya is also serving a four-year ban and this did not augur well for the event. As if that were not enough, a clutch of women shot putters, including Asian champion Manpreet Kaur are facing either provisional suspensions or bans after being heard. Suffice to say, things were not looking good in an event in which India has held a mastery at least at the Asian level. Viewed against such a backdrop, the gold medal on Saturday evening comes as a relief. Yet, the gold medal would mean the greatest to his father Karam Singh, battling bone cancer for a couple of years now. After all, it was he who suggested that Tajinderpal give up his obsession with cricket and pursue an individual sport. It is easy to imagine that his son’s gold medal in the Asian Games would come as a greater balm to him than perhaps medicines in dealing with his pain. And that perhaps will be the greatest thing that the gold medal does.<doc-sep>Tajinderpal Singh Toor at the medal ceremony of shot put in which he won gold. (PTI Photo) Tajinderpal Singh Toor at the medal ceremony of shot put in which he won gold. (PTI Photo) In the late 1980s, Karam Singh Toor’s exploits in tug-of-war competitions in Punjab earned him a nickname: ‘Hero’. He won medals in a number of tournaments in the state, including at the famous rural Olympics at Qila Raipur. There was local renown in tug-of-war but no future. He had to leave it all to work on his 15-acre farm at village Khosa Pando in Moga. His love for intensely physical sports saw him encourage his son Tejinder Pal Singh to take up shot put. But before Toor Junior could make it big, Karam was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2012. Despite chemotherapy, three years later, it metastasised to his bones. Karam Singh underwent another surgery this April. His father failing health nearly forced Tejinder, returning from the Commonwealth Games where he finished 7th, to think about leaving the sport, but after the family and his coach insisted, he carried on. As the 24-year-old hurled the sphere 20.75 metres to break the Asian Games record and win the gold medal, a feeling relief washed over Karam Singh, who was watching the final lying on his bed at the village. “Jinna zor main landa si rassa kassi ch, Tejinder ne tan aaj 6 bandeyan da zor lagaa ta (The amount of effort I put in tug-of-war, Tajinder put in six times that effort today). Once I was selected for an international NRI tournament in Thailand, but the tour was cancelled. Today, Tejinder made the Indian flag rise in the same region in a sports event. What more can I ask? “Since the time I got cancer, his only concern has been my health and I know that he must be thinking about my health even today,” shared an emotional Karam Singh. At the Commonwealth Games earlier this year, it was evident that Tejinder was distracted, and it showed in his performance. His best at the Gold Coast was 19.10m. Today he threw 19.96m twice, before giving it all in the penultimate throw. “70 din ch practice karwayi te aaj da medal aya hai. Straight after the Commonwealth Games, he made sure that his father underwent surgery at the Army R and R Hospital. But he did not want to train. We had to convince him to continue. This gold medal is the result of his will,” shared Gurdev Singh Toor, 45, Tejinder’s uncle. Asian Games records set by Indian athletes Gurdev was shot putter himself in his younger days, winning bronze medal at the Junior Asian Championships in 1996. Tejinder initially started with discus throw, before following in his uncle’s footsteps. He turned out to be a natural. Title wins at the National School Games and Junior Nationals followed and, last year, he announced himself on the big stage with a silver medal effort at the Asian Indoor Championships. “Discus helped him master his rotation technique at a young age. At the village stadium, there would be less space as most villagers at that time would use the open space to dry cow dung cakes. He would run at the stadium and practice shot put at the government school. When he was 15, he would make 120-130 throws per week. He has an Olympic logo inscribed on the wall of his room. That is his dream: to win the medal in the Olympics,” added Gurdev. Asian Games 2018: Athletes who brought glory to India Growing up Tejinder’s diet would equal that of two children, informed his mother Prit Pal Kaur. “When he was young, he would often sleep with the ‘gola‘ (shot) under his pillow. His day would start with eating paranthas and 10 eggs and finished too with eating. They would call his father ‘hero’. Aaj medal jeet ke asli hero tan Tejinder hi ban gaya,” said Kaur.<doc-sep>
Earlier this weekend, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, the burly shot-putter from Moga, Punjab, broke the Asian Games record in the shot put event, throwing 20.75 in his fifth attempt. For the 23-year-old gold medal winner, however, the road to success has been laden with passion and sacrifice. He dedicated his victory to his father, who is suffering from cancer. “This medal is my biggest achievement because a lot of sacrifices have been made. For the last two year, my father (Sardar Karam Singh) has been battling with cancer. My family though never let it distract me. They allowed me to chase my dream. My family never pressurises me to attend to my father in the hospital, and it was always my friends who took care of all the hospital formalities in my absence. I haven’t gone home much in this period since I was training in Dharamshala,” he told the press after his gold medal win. Tajinderpal Singh’s father, a farmer, who is currently fighting for his life at the Command Hospital in Panchkula, is battling bone cancer, which is now in its fourth stage and has spread to his brain. If it wasn’t for his father, Tajinder might not have ever taken to shot put. His interest initially lay in cricket, but Sardar Karam Singh encouraged him to take up an individual sport. Speaking to the Times of India, Tajinder went onto add, “Now, I will meet my dad, but I will be there for only two days. I have to get ready for the next challenge. My coach MS Dhillon also needs to be credited for the hard work put in by him.” Employed by the Indian Navy under its sports quota, Tajinder’s family have thanked it for helping them pay for Sardar Karam’s treatment. Promotion “The biggest help for our family has come from the Indian Navy. It has been taking care of all the expenses, which has ensured that Tajinder focuses only on his game, and trains peacefully,” said Gurudev Singh, Tajinder’s uncle, to Times of India. During the event itself, however, some quick (code) words from his coach MS Dhillon were what helped Tajinderpal attain that additional record-breaking edge. The criticism against the Commonwealth Games silver medal-winner until then had always been that he couldn’t perform to his maximum in major tournaments. Not anymore, though. “I wasn’t happy with the flow of his throws, and told him to get it out of his arm cleanly. Hence the record-breaking throw,” the coach told Scroll.in. For Tajinderpal, meanwhile, the aim wasn’t even the Asian Games gold but breaking the 21-metre mark. While he could not manage to do this, he definitely won the hearts and minds of this nation starved of track and field success. (Edited by Gayatri Mishra) Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.