Bhogeswar Baruah (born 3 September 1940) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

former-athlete and coach. He was one of the first Assamese to win gold at an international event, winning a gold medal in an 800-metre running event at the

1966 Asian Games The 1966 Asian Games, also known as the V Asiad or Bangkok 1966, were a continental multi-sport event that was held from 9 to 20 December 1966, in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 142 events in 16 sports were contested by athletes during the games. T ...

. He also won a silver medal in the

4 x 400 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

in the 1970 Asian games. He is a recipient of the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

and is the first Assamese to obtain the Arjuna award.''Bhogeswar Barua Bonus for Assam''
STAFF; Monday, 18 July 2005 article; ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

''; accessed May 2014. Baruah was born on 3 September 1940. He came from a farmer's family, and was very poor while growing up in

Sivasagar {{Infobox settlement , name = Sivasagar , settlement_type = Metropolis , image_skyline = Sivasagar.jpg , image_alt = {{multiple image , border = infobox , total_width = 270 , image_style ...

. Baruah enjoyed sports from a young age, particularly football. He joined the Indian Defence Force in 1960, which led to him focusing on running rather than football. Baruah began his early running career shortly after his entry into the army. He participated in several running events, winning gold in numerous events. In 1965, in the National Athletics Competition held in

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, he set a national record finishing the 800 metre race in 1 min 49.9 seconds. In the

he won gold by running the 800 metres in 1 minute 49.4 seconds, which set a new record in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. In the

1970 Asian Games The 6th Asian Games also known as Bangkok 1970, were held from 9 to 20 December 1970 in Bangkok, Thailand.- - Seoul, South Korea, had been selected to host the 6th Games but it declined due to both financial reasons and security threats from ne ...

, he won a silver medal in a 4 x 400 metre relay. Baruah's birthday is celebrated on 3 September every year in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, which was named the " Abhiruchi Sports Day" in his honor. He also started a sports academy at Dimow in

in the early 1990s. But after operating for three years, he had closed it down due to lack of funds. Baruah is considered a sporting icon and household name in Assam.

Early life and military career

Bhogeswar Baruah was born on 3 September 1940 in Sundarpur in Joyasagar in the Sibsagar district. His father was Bhodraswar Baruah and his mother was Aikon Baruah. Baruah had 7 siblings and was the 6th child out of the 8 siblings. Baruah came from a poor family and his father, the late Bhodraswar Baruah, was uneducated and the economic condition of his family was not good enough to maintain his outfit. Baruah spent the early years of his colourful life in

. Baruah was initially attracted to football, however he also enjoyed boxing and swimming as well as several other sports. Baruah joined the EME department of the

Indian Defence Force The Indian Defence Force (IDF) was a part-time defence force established as part of the Indian Army in 1917 in order to release regular troops from garrison duties during the First World War. It was divided into British and Indian sections. Lik ...

in 1960. The course of his life gradually changed after joining the department because he gradually began to focus on running instead of football.

Sporting career

Early career

Baruah participated in the All India Open Athletics Meet Relay in

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. Baruah managed to win gold in the relay. Baruah participated in the 400 metre and 800 metre race at the Open Athletics held in Sri Lanka in 1964. He again won gold in this event. In 1964, Baruah participated in the National Athletic Competition held in

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

and in 1965, he participated in the National Athletic Competition held in

. Notably, he also won a gold medal in these 1964-1965 events. He however not only managed to win gold, but in the 1965 event, Baruah set a national record by finishing the 800 metre race in 1 min 49.9 seconds.

Asian games

In 1966, Baruah managed to bring glory to

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and the

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, by winning gold in the

held in

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in the 800 metres athletics event. Baruah finished in 1 minute 49.4 seconds, which set a new record in Asia by in that time.Not only did Baruah win a gold medal, but he also became the first Assamese to win gold at an international level. In 1970, Baruah was part of the Indian team that won silver at the 1970 Asian Games in the 400 metre relay. Baruah also was one of the athletes who carried a torch in a relay in the opening of the

2016 South Asian Games The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports ...

Later career

After his retirement from the Indian Army, Baruah found it difficult to maintain his family of five and had to take up the job of a driver in

Sibsagar {{Infobox settlement , name = Sivasagar , settlement_type = Metropolis , image_skyline = Sivasagar.jpg , image_alt = {{multiple image , border = infobox , total_width = 270 , image_style ...

. Later on, the Assamese sports magazine, Abhiruchi, brought his state to the notice of people and also wrote a letter to the President of India. As a reaction,

ONGC The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is an Indian central public sector undertaking which is the largest government-owned oil and gas explorer and producer in the country. It accounts for around 70 percent of India's domestic pro ...

elevated him to the post of Regional Sports Officer in 1983. The Government also sanctioned a petrol pump in his name at Numaligarh later.

Contributions to the sporting world

Baruah established a sports academy in Dimow in Sibasagar in the early 90s. Through the academy, Baruah shared his experiences and started training the younger generations interested in sports. However, after three years, the academy was shut down due the lack of funding. In 2019,

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Sarbananda Sonowal Sarbananda Sonowal (; born 31 October 1962) is an Indian politician who has served as Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways since 2021. He also has been the Government of India, Member of the Rajy ...

laid the foundation stone of Bhogeswar's state sports school at the Sports Complex in Guwahati's Sarusajai. The school which is the first of its kind in the state will be built at a sprawling 20 bigha of land where theoretical and practical coaching will be provided at six prescribed sports (athletics,

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

and

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

). Sonowal said that sport is a tool through which peace can be brought in society. Sonowal announced that the government would formulate a policy to integrate it with culture and education so that sportspersons pursuing training are not deprived of academic and moral values. After stating that sport is the way to become energetic and fit, Sonowal urged upon the sporting talents to be disciplined, dedicated and hard working. He also said that to develop quality in the sporting ambience in the state, the Assam Government decided to set up Sports University at Chabua in

Dibrugarh district Dibrugarh district (Pron:ˌdɪbru:ˈgor:) is a district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located within the city of Dibrugarh. Etymology Dibrugarh derived its name from Dibarumukh (as a renowned encampment of Ahom ...

, a Sports College in

Kokrajhar Kokrajhar () is a town in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an Autonomous administrative divisions of India, autonomous territory in Assam, one of the Northeast India, North Eastern states of India. History Under the Kingdom of Bhutan From the ...

and Sports School in

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

so that the sporting talents of the state could be properly nurtured. Bhogeswar Baruah was present during the occasion and said that he was happy to see a sports institute after his name. "Definitely, it's a happy feeling for me. I hope the school will help in nurturing a host of young talents who will be able to represent the country in the long run." Baruah also served as the brand ambassador of Khel Sivasagar Khel of a sports initiative planned under the Soulful Sivasagar campaign adopted by Sivasagar DC M.S Lakshmipriya in 2020.

Legacy

Baruah has been praised for being the first player to receive gold at a national level. Balendra Mohan Chakravarty said "Baruah is the greatest sportsperson Assam has ever produced. He is a pioneer too, being the first athlete from Assam to bring a gold medal for the country from an international meet." A biography of Baruah concluded that he has been able to achieve success by acknowledging a lot of hardship and sacrifice by showing his skills through concentration and perseverance which has made him an icon for the new generation. The biography also stated that Baruah's hard life struggle proved that having duty, courage concentration intelligence and determination to reach the goal cannot hinder any factor from moving forward. The biography said that Assam will always be proud of Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah's achievement as an Assamese. Baruah himself considers the best compliment to be from

Milkha Singh Milkha Singh (20 November 1929 18 June 2021), also known as "The Flying Sikh", was an Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army. He is the only athlete to win gold at 400 metres at the A ...

in 1986 in which Singh said "you are very lucky. I am called the Flying Sikh, but I doubt even my neighbours know when my birthday is. And here in Assam, your birthday is celebrated with so much grandeur. I really envy you." On the 36th Abhiruchi Sports day, Chief Minister

said on Twitter: In 2021, the

Assam government The Government of Assam or Assam Government abbreviated as GoAS, is the state government of the Indian state of Assam. It consists of the Governor appointed by the President of India as the head of the state, currently Lakshman Prasad Acharya ...

under

Himanta Biswa Sarma Himanta Biswa Sarma (born 1 February 1969) is an Indian politician and lawyer serving as the 15th and current Chief Minister of Assam since 2021. A former member of the Indian National Congress, Sarma joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 23 Au ...

announced that Baruah's birthday would be celebrated as sports day in Assam. On 3 September 2021, at the Sports Pension Awards Ceremony, Baruah was one of the 13 recipients which Sarma formally handed over pension sanction letters to.

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Jagadish Mukhi and ministers Bimal Bora and Parimal Suklabadiya were also present at the ceremony. Sarma said that Baruah's life and achievement would continue to inspire upcoming generations.

Honors and awards

Over Baruah's career, he has received numerous awards: *

(1966) * Lachit Award (2015) * Bir Chilarai Award (2019), presented by Chief Minister Sarbanada Sonowal

Books featuring Bhogeswar Baruah

* ''Golden Race: Bhogeswar Baruah's autobiography,'' (2019), a biography written by Narayan Bordoloi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baruah, Bhogeswar Athletes from Assam People from Sivasagar district Indian athletics coaches Indian male middle-distance runners Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games athletes for India Asian Games silver medalists for India 1940 births Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 Asian Games Living people Medalists at the 1966 Asian Games Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Asian Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field)