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This is an archive article published on October 14, 2002

India bring home the baton, but get one on the knuckles

It was a mixed day for the Indian athletes on the final day of the Games. Sunita Rani’s positive dope test overshadowed some good perfo...

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It was a mixed day for the Indian athletes on the final day of the Games. Sunita Rani’s positive dope test overshadowed some good performances by the athletes. India ended the Games with 17 medals – including seven gold – which was better than their performances at the last Games in Bangkok.

Members of India’s 4x400m relay team rejoice after winning the silver. (Reuters)

The best performance of the day came from the women’s 4×400 meters relay team despite having Manjit Kaur as a weak link in the quartet. Jincy Phillips gave a good start to the team by bringing the baton along with leaders Kazakhstan. But the second runner, Manjit, failed to maintain the lead. Soma Biswas covered a lot of ground to forge ahead and by the time KM Beenamol got the baton the race was already decided. Beenamol ran a brilliant final leg to help the Indian team record a time of 3:30.84, narrowly missing the Games mark of 3:29:11. The Indian victory added one more gold to Beenamol’s personal tally and she became one of the most successful athletes of the Games having won two gold and one silver.

Of her performance Beenamol said, ‘‘I had kept my 800 metres gold in front of the picture of Mother Mary but I have removed it because someone’s medal was stolen. I don’t want to lose it,’’ she said.

The men’s 4x400m relay team despite a good race had to content with a silver. The foursome of P Ramachandran, Manoj Lal, Satbir Singh and Bhupendra Singh clocked 3:04.22 against the winners Saudi Arabia’s performance of 3:02.47.

Discus thrower Anil Kumar had come to Busan after a long training stint in Hungary with high hope. But his throw of 59.18 metres, watched by his Hungarian coach Pal Nemeth from the stand, fetched him a bronze.

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‘‘I am disappointed,’’ Anil said after the event. He was expecting to win the gold, which ultimately Tao Wu of China won with a throw of 60.76m.

Much was expected from Anju George in triple jump. But the long jump winner was unfortunate as she had to settle for the fourth spot despite covering a distance of 13.26 – the same as the bronze medallist. Anju lost the medal on the countback as Tatyana Bocharvova’s third jump read 13.23.

Like in the long jump, Anju failed to get her rhythm right. She did well on the hop but often missed the step and committed two fouls.

Earlier in the day, Pong Sil Ham of North Korea won the women’s marathon in 2:33:35 hours. As soon as she entered the stadium for the final lap the entire media rushed to the finishing point. But the security, covering the North Koreans, did not allow them to come anywhere near the North Korean runner. On the victory stand, too, the media tried to come closer to the runner as she cried like a child after listening to the North Korean national anthem in South Korea — a rarity indeed.

Bobby proves a point after silver medal

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