Jammu and Kashmir Veterans Athletics team bagged 22 medals, with 9 gold, 9 silver and 4 bronze in the Indo-Bangladesh Masters Athletics Meet held at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi, recently.

The State athletes participated in the Meet under the supervision of Tarsem Lal Basotra, General Secretary J&K Veteran Athletic Association.

Surjeet Choudhary, who bagged 3 gold medals in the Championship was declared as the best athlete, while the other medal winners included Devi Dayal (3 gold), Ram Paul Kapoor (2 silver, 1 bronze), Kanta Butyal (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze), Sudesh Basotra (1 gold, 1 silver), Reyaz Ahmed (1 gold, 1 silver), Tarsem Basotra (1 silver), Janak Singh (1 silver), Rajinder Singh, (1 silver), Manohar Lal (1 silver), Balwan Singh (1 bronze) and Amrish Sharma (1 bronze).
The Championship was held in Delhi from February 14 to February 16.

Age is no barrier for Surjeet Choudhary, a 58-year-old veteran athlete and an Inspector in the J&K Police, who has bagged three gold medals in the Indo-Bangladesh Masters Athletics Meet held at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi, from February 14 to 16. He was also declared the best athlete.

He was part of the J&K Veterans Athletics team that participated in the sporting event. Surjeet bagged gold medals in the 100 m sprint, long jump and triple jump events.

Hailing from Chohala, a small village in RS Pura, Surjeet had participated in various athletic events at the district, state and national level before joining the service in 1983.

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“Ever since I started participating in athletic events, it was my dream to win medals at the national and international level. I joined the JK Police in 1985 and in 1989, I participated in the 38th All-India Police Games held at New Delhi from February 5 to 12,” Surjit told The Tribune.

“Though I was not able to win any medal, being part of the event motivated me to perform well further. In 2015, I got my first medal in the National Masters Athletic Championship held at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh,” he said.

“In 2017, I was pretty close to breaking the national record in the National Masters Athletic Championship. I clinched gold medal in long jump in that competition,” he said.

When asked about the secret behind his energy level at this age, Surjeet said, “Age is just a number if an individual wants to excel in any field. Passion is what keeps an individual keep going.”

Originally posted in  The Tribune