During the 2016 Rio Olympics, Indian contingent was in limelight mainly due to the doping cases and many players failed to make the grade due to the same. Firstly, wrestler Narsingh Yadav and shot putter Indrajeet Singh were caught due to the same issue.
Then came the turn of Haryana’s sprinter Dharamveer Singh, who set a new national record for India when he won the 200 meters race at the Indian Grand Prix in Bengaluru. His dream of challenging Usain Bolt was halted as he was caught due to doping just one day before leaving for Rio.
What was shocking in this event was his statement as he claimed that he had a viral and he had to take the medicines. Ironically, the Haryana sprinter broke the Olympic record of 20:50 second in the Grand Prix in Bengaluru by completing it in just 20:45. On the basis of the same, he was elected for the Olympics and his friends added bit and bit to let his dream come true.
He started off his career in 2001 and was earning his bread and butter by selling the LIC policies. So far in 100 and 200 meters races, he has won 6 golds, one silver and one bronze. In 2015 – during the 21st Asian games – he finished his race in just 22:66 and hence, broke Milkha Singh’s record.
He was quite a versatile youngster, as he started off his career by playing kabaddi and also tried his hands on high jumps and in 2006, he coincidently met with Ramesh Sindhu, who identified his potential and gave him the training to be a sprinter.
