Pargat Singh dedicates biography of 1st Arjuna awardee Olympian GS Randhawa

Chandigarh, Nov 14 (UNI) “The sporting life of the legendary first Arjuna Awardee athlete Gurbachan Singh Randhawa who made the country shine like a star in the International athletics arena, would forever be a beacon of inspiration for the other Indian players till eternity.” These views were expressed by Punjab Sports, Higher Education and Linguistics Minister Pargat Singh here on Sunday while dedicating to the people the biography ‘Uddna Baaz’ of Olympian Gurbachan Singh Randhawa penned by eminent sports writer Navdeep Singh Gill.
In his address on the occasion, the Minister said that the very fact that Gurbachan Singh Randhawa made it to the finals of the olympics, was adjudged Best Athlete at the Asian Games and achieved 4 National records within 2 days, speaks volumes about the peerles prowess of the iconic athlete.

“Punjabis can create history but can’t preserve it, in order to change the misnomer it has been decided to write a series of biographies our great sporting icons of yore and beginning has been made from Gurbachan Singh Randhawa.”
It is noteworthy that Gurbachan Singh Randhawa was the flag bearer of the Indian contingent at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics where he bagged 5th position in the 110 Metre Hurdles event. He won Gold Medal in 1962 Jakarta Asiad in Decathlon besides the title of Best Athlete. He was bestowed Arjuna Award in 1961 and Padma Shri in 2005.

Superannuating as Commandant from CRPF, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa was awarded Rashtrapati Puraskar for meritorious services in Police apart from honorary PhD degree as the Sports Advisor of the Punjabi University Patiala.
The great sporting hero was born on June 6, 1939 at Village Nangli in Amritsar District in the house of Mr Tehal Singh and Mata Dhanwant Kaur. His father, brother Harbhajan Singh and son Ranjit Singh Randhawa have earned name and fame in the field of sports. His better half Jaswinder Kaur has also remained a National level athlete in Discus Throw with his in laws at Rurka Kalan also having proven dedication to the sports.
UNI DB GNK 2338