Exclusive/ Amandeep Kaur: The strong-willed sprinter who went against her father & now is on the brink of glory

Each year the Khelo India University Games pushes forward a plethora of athletes to the mainstream. The dais has been tailor-made to transition the budding talent into an established sportsperson. This year too several athletes soared to prominence and reached a level where the launchpad is ready to ascend them to the zenith sphere.

Among the many, sprinter Amandeep Kaur made resounding waves through her performance in the 800 m category. Kaur clinched the 800 m gold and is now gunning for the Olympic glory. Impressed with Amandeep's trajectory, republicworld.com caught up with her coach, Deepak Kumar.

With the intrigue of putting a telescope on the journey of Amandeep, we posed several queries in front of Kumar. Coach Kumar addressed all the questions and brought forward a spectacular tale, that got its poetic justice.

From Amandeep's humble beginning to how she went against the grain of his family, and yet attained success, Deepak Kumar portrayed the incredible will of his prodigy in front of us.

Here are the excerpts from the non-stop conservation.

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On Amandeep's beginning

"She was in Elementary school when her coach saw her and recognised her potential. He motivated her. Afterwards, she started her ground journey. Parents were not in favour of her sports endeavors. Especially her father. They had no real income source and hence were against their daughter's desire to become an athlete. So they said no to her about sports. But she was adamant, she used to sneak out of the house, used to visit the ground. She changed the time for visiting the ground. She was then motivated by her teachers. But after some time parents became more firm and did not want their girl to go to the ground. But despite her father’s revolt, she continued with her act. After that, she went for a 6-month ground training, where she incurred some personal issues, and the entire set-up went haywire.

How Amandeep reached to Coach Deepak Kumar?

There used to be a girl who used to train under me, who had participated in the University games last year and was adjudged the best athlete. She saw Amandeep and gave her my contact. We had a conversation where she told me that I wanted to join you and train under you. Last year, when she came to me, I took her trial and she ran for 800 meters. She completed the distance in just 2 minutes and 23 seconds. Then she started preparing hard and began participating in tournaments. She ran at the Punjab State meet. She finished 3rd there. Following that her timing kept on improving. She soon covered up 5 seconds and brought her timing to 2 minutes and 18 seconds. After that, trials happened once again, she improved slightly more, and she notched 2 minutes and 13 seconds. In the 800m U-23 national tournament that took place in Chandigarh, she won a silver medal. She put on 2 min 10 seconds in the tournament. Then she participated in the Punjab University games, she created record numbers in 800 and 1500 m. Then we went to take part in All India University games, where she won silver in 1500 m and silver as well in 800 m.

Parents' attitude following the incoming of medals and financial struggle

Her parents were still adamant, the only support she got was from her mother. But financially, she was powerless and could not support her. Her father still did not want her to continue pursuing the route of athletics. Any random monetary help that Amandeep used to get, never used to reach her as she shared a joint account with her father, who used to withdraw the money instantly. She used to remain quite distressed over her family not supporting her. During the period, I reminded her about the purpose and why we are working so hard. So, when it comes to looking after her financially she only has me. She has the potential of ascending to the zenith position but that's not enough. Meanwhile, the college helped her, they waived her fees. And for the rest of her needs like food and basic living, she is dependent on the schemes enacted by the Punjab Government. However, for travelling to different places to participate in tournaments and other purposes like buying spikes, She desired to get the Nike Air spikes, which we arranged for recently, her earlier shoes were completely totaled, so on the spot we required 14000 rupees. So, currently, I am taking care of expenses like these. Performance-wise, she is doing great. She has recorded her personal best in both 800 and 1500 m categories in university games.

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Back to square one and bounce back

The kid did not have much idea, she picked this route after instances like, a teacher motivating her. Watching others run. This way her interest in running picked up. It was 2016 when I urged her district coach to push her talent. She was in 6th back then. Watching her run, I insisted her then coach to get her enrolled with a certain scheme, so that her basic needs would be met easily. Then I used to hear that her parents were not in favour of such a move. They did not want to send their girl out. Then she went to Patiala, where she faced issues and then headed back home. At home, she used to miss her running days and was observed that her fitness had faded away. Randomly, I got a call from her, stating her plight. Then I told her to immediately come back and get the training underway once again. Her earlier timing was nowhere close to what it is today. But she worked hard and slowly but surely began to show improvement by leaps and bounds.

Olympic qualification within touching distance

Olympic qualification is the ultimate aim. One gets qualified upon reaching the mark of 1.59, we are at 2.06, and looking forward to touching the qualification in upcoming tournaments.

Father finally felt proud

When the noise of her achievement reached her village, people went to her father and brought to his notice the meteoric rise of his daughter. He felt proud at that moment. Then they called her and emotions flowed. His father admitted that he was wrong all this time. They have given their blessing to her now and have sent their best wishes. But the blessing isn’t enough, there is a dire need for financial support. Till now we have managed somehow. If the target is the Olympics then at least a sum of 10 lakhs is needed, with proper diet and kit, etc. There is a requirement for money for training purposes. Government have their areas of support but that becomes active when the kid qualifies.