Olympian Hari Chand who created 10,000m national record barefoot in Montreal dies unsung

CHANDIGARH: Before the news of the passing away of the Olympian athlete Hari Chand (69) trickled in, very little was known of the champion long-distance runner who created a national record during the Montreal Olympics (1976) in the men's 10,000m event running barefoot.
Even as his record stood for 32 years, the modest athlete remained literally unknown and unsung despite his stellar achievements in the track and field competitions.
The athlete, who was from Ghorewaha village in Hoshiarpur district, died at a hospital in Jalandhar on Monday morning. The website of Athletics Federation of India (AFI), the nodal body for managing athletics in the country, also has no record of Hari who was a known name in the track and field in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Even Brigadier Labh Singh (retired), who represented India in the triple jump event in the Tokyo Olympics (1964), said he didn’t know much about Hari. “He started competing at the national and international level many years after I had quit athletics,” Brig Singh said.
Hari, who retired as Assistant Command from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), won gold medals in the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games in 5,000m and 10,000m races and a gold in the 10,000m and a silver in the 5,000m 1975 Asian Athletics Championship held at Seoul. The athlete, who was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 1975, also competed in the moscow Olympics (1980) where he finished 10th in the 10,000m race besides taking part in the marathon.
Remembering the athlete, sports administrator and former Basketball Federation of India (BFI) president Rajdeep Singh Gill, also ex-DGP of Punjab Police, said Hari dominated the middle- and long-distance events in the 1970s. “He won triple gold medals in 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m events for five consecutive years in the All-India Police Games. Though he was a star athlete, he had no airs about himself. His achievements belied his short, wiry frame,” said Gill, who is president of the Punjab Basketball Association (PBA).