Athletics is an accessible sport that can be practiced on any level and an aspiring athlete does not require expensive equipment or a specific area for training. Pakistan Sports Board and the Athletics Federation of Pakistan should evolve a strategy to promote athletics at grass roots level.
Schools in the urban and rural areas can help promote simple athletic sports such as running, jumping and hurdling. Apart from this, parks provide ample space for running or jumping, said former athletes while talking to Business Recorder, here on Saturday.
According to them, Lahore Marathon, now in its third year, is an excellent way to promote and encourage athletics in Pakistan. The sum total prize money of the three marathons is 315,000 dollars, a sum previously unheard of in the Pakistani athletic context. Furthermore, local athletes who win within the recorded time of international athletes will also be entitled to local prize money. Hopefully through setting up more events that provide a monetary incentive to participate, the athletes of Pakistan will once again rise and shine like the stars that came before them.
They said Pakistan's abysmal performance in the recent Doha Asian Games is proof that the glory days of Pakistan's athletics are over. The sad truth of the matter is that they have been over for so long that even the Pakistan Sports Board acknowledges on their website www.sports.gov.pk that "the participation of the Pakistani athletes in the Asian Games has become mere formalities."
Pakistan's participation in various other championships such as the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Athletic Championship has also been a mere formality for many years now. Pakistani athletes seldom win any medals in these competitions.
Although Pakistani athletes have never won an Olympic medal in athletics, they used to be a force to be reckoned with on a regional level. The fifties were known as the golden era of Pakistani athletics. At the 1954 Asian Games in Manila, Pakistan snared 4 gold and 4 silver medals in athletics. It was at these games that Abdul Khaliq was given the title of "Fastest Man in Asia" after setting a new record of 10.6 seconds in the 100-metre dash. He was seldom beaten in the 100 and 200 meters sprints in the Asian Games athletic events. Mohammad Sharif Butt won a gold medal in the 200-metres race and created an Asian record with a time of 21.9 seconds. Mohammad Nawaz also scored a gold medal with a javelin throw of 210ft 10-1/8in, which was a new Asian record too. Yet another Asian record was attained by Mirza Khan when he won the gold medal in the 400m hurdles race with the time of 54.1 seconds. At the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver the same year, Muhammad Iqbal stood first in the hammer throw event and set a new Empire Record with a throw that travelled 181 feet 8 inches. Muhammad Nawaz and Jalal Khan won silver and bronze respectively for the javelin throw.
A similar trend of achievements continued in 1958 when Pakistan won a total of 13 medals at the Asian Games - 5 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals. Once again Abdul Khaliq, whose record remained unbeaten for numerous years, won the gold and retained his honorific title. Similarly, Muhammad Nawaz retained his number one position. The other three gold medals were won by Mubarak Shah for the 3000 metres steeplechase; Ghulam Raziq won the 110m hurdles and Mohammad Iqbal stood first in hammer throw. The silver medals were won by Abdul Khaliq for the 200 metre dash, Mubarak Shah for the 10,000 metre run, Jalal Khan for the javelin throw and Mohammad Ayub for the discus throw. At the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff the same year, Pakistan won an impressive total of 10 medals, out of which 4 were achieved by athletes. Muhammad Iqbal won the silver for the hammer throw while Jalal Khan moved up from the bronze to the silver for the javelin throw. Muhammad Ramzan Ali won the bronze medal for the long jump. Ghulam Raziq, who was considered the greatest high hurdler of Asia and included in the ten best hurdlers of his time, won bronze in the 120-yard hurdles. Raziq also had the rare honour of reaching the semi-final of the two successive Olympics at Melbourne in 1956 and Rome in 1960 in the 110m hurdles race.
By 1962 Pakistan had only one gold medal in athletics in the Commonwealth Games. It was won by Ghulam Raziq for the 120 metre hurdle in Perth. However, Pakistan did well at the Asian Games in Jakarta that year by winning 7 medals in athletics out of which two were gold, three were silver and two were bronze. Mubarak became the first Pakistani to win two medals in the 3000-metre steeplechase and the 5000 metre. Ghulam Raziq once again won a medal for the 110 metre hurdles while Mohammad Yousuf and Mohammad Nawaz won the silver for the marathon and javelin throw. Meanwhile, Allah Ditta and Mohammad Iqbal attained the bronze in pole vault and hammer throw respectively.
Four years later, in 1966, Pakistani athletes managed to win only one medal at the Asian Games in Bangkok. At the Commonwealth Games in Jamaica that year, our athletes continued to decline. Ghulam Raziq, Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Nawaz secured bronze medals for the 120-yard hurdles, the hammer throw and the javelin throw respectively.
Some of the poorest countries of the world have managed to produce top athletes. Kenya and Ethiopia are well known for producing some of the top runners in the world. Many of these athletes hail from poverty stricken rural areas. Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia, the world-renowned Olympic marathon winner, claimed his victory in Rome in 1960 after running barefoot the whole way. Albert Kemboi, an elite athlete and a farmer who participated in the Lahore Marathon 2005, started running because his feet were his only means of transport. His school was so far away from his home that he had to run two hours in order to get to school every morning. Once he started farming he had to continue to run in order to get from one end of his farm to another.
Athletics does not have the glitz and glamour that is associated with cricket in Pakistan today. It does not bring in the cash, corporate sponsorships and media coverage that cricket does. Be that as it may, the government seems to be stepping in the right direction by encouraging activities such as marathons.