Karu at 85: What a life in sport teaches

Selvaratnam Karunakarer was a waterboy, an Olympian, a double international and a naval officer. Today, he reflects not on what he won, but on what sport taught him.

Selvaratnam Karunakarer stands ramrod-straight, arms folded like a man at ease with his past, in front of framed photographs that chart a lifetime in Malaysian sport at his home in Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

KUALA LUMPUR:

 Selvaratnam Karunakarer pauses over the golf ball longer than most men his age. Not because the swing is hard but because he enjoys the moment before commitment.

The pause used to come before a starter’s pistol. Now it comes before a tee shot. Same breath. Same calm.

Batu Gajah-born Karu is 85 today, and you can, if you like, line up the headlines:

Waterboy at Ipoh’s Anglo-Chinese School; Olympian in Tokyo (1964); national champion over the 400m and 400m hurdles (1961–65), with a 52.7s hurdles mark that stood for decades, 1962 Asian Games silver medallist in the 4x400m relay and bronze in 400m hurdles.

He was a double international who captained both athletics and cricket, an Armed Forces bantamweight boxing champion, and in 2023, made a Datuk.

He remembers Hameed the canteen man who fed him on a $90 apprentice allowance and Kesavan who sharpened his cricket.

And he still talks about American coach Tom Rosandich — and the inspirational visit years ago from the legendary American sprinter Jesse Owens — as the odd, luminous punctuation marks in a life built day by day.

Octogenarian Selvaratnam Karunakarer takes a swing on the golf course — the same calm once held before a starter’s pistol, now measured in breath and balance. (Selvaratnam Karunakarer pic)

Those are tidy, impressive facts. Karu treats them as context, not the point.

Sit with him long enough and resist the instinct to replay the old stories.

Instead you get short, practical observations, the kinds of things a man collects after decades on tracks, pitches, parade grounds and golf courses.

Selvaratnam Karunakarer clears a hurdle in the 400m hurdles, the event in which the awe-inspiring multi-sports star made his name and set standards that endured for decades. (Selvaratnam Karunakarer pic)

The former multi-sports star and top sports administrator offers them without pomp, often with a joke and sometimes with a wince.

They are the lessons he would hand a young athlete or tuck into a small notebook at the end of a day.

Things very Karu

On beginnings:

• Opportunity rarely announces itself. Mine arrived while I was carrying water.
• Teachers change lives quietly. They point, and wait.
• The first time matters. It shows you fear can be survived.

On training and discipline:

• Talent is noisy. Discipline is quiet. The quiet one lasts.
• Your body understands honesty; shortcuts get found out.
• Rest is not laziness. It is preparation in comfortable clothes.

On winning:

• Winning feels good — and it ends fast.
• Gold makes photographs; silver can make better people.
• If victory changes your manners, it was never really yours.

On losing and disappointment:

• Some defeats stay with you longer than victories. Those are often the useful ones.
• Missing out hurts. Missing the lesson hurts more.
• You don’t get over disappointment; you learn to carry it with less limp.

On leadership:

• A captain’s first job is to listen. Everything else follows.
• If your teammates fear you, you are managing anxiety, not leading.
• Titles don’t make leaders; consistency does.
• The best leaders leave quietly; their work continues without them.

On multi-sport life:

• Playing many sports teaches humility. There is always someone better.
• Every sport borrows from another: endurance, timing, balance.
• Specialisation sharpens skill; variety preserves sanity.

On the body:

• Your body remembers what you tried to ignore.
• Recovery becomes a skill, then a priority.
• Stretch more than you think you should.

On time and age:

• At 20 you chase time. At 85 you notice it.
• Age rearranges, it rarely takes everything.
• Experience doesn’t slow you; ego does.

On coaching and giving back:

• Coaching is about protecting confidence, not exposing errors.
• If a child comes back next week, you’ve succeeded.
• The best thank-you is effort, not applause.

On family:

• Sport is what I did; family is who I am.
• If your children choose sport, let it be their choice — your job is to steady the ground.
• Pride is not medals at the dinner table; it is character when no one is watching.

On perspective and joy:

• I used to run forward and see only the finish; now I look around.
• Fame is loud; respect is quiet.
• Gratitude ages well.
• Sport is serious. Joy is essential.
• Laughter helps recovery.
• Golf is athletics that forgives you.

On endings and beginnings:

• Nothing really ends; it asks less of your legs and more of your patience.
• Showing up remains the hardest part.
• If you love the work, the numbers stop mattering.

Happy 85 Karu

Olympian and former double international Selvaratnam Karunakarer with his wife Rohini Shanta by his side, revisits stories from his athletics days — memories shared easily, with warmth and quiet humour.

Karu folds his scorecard carefully, the way he used to fold training plans and travel orders. There is no flourish. Just habit. Just care.

At 85, the former navy Lt-Commander passes on what worked, laughs at what failed, and reminds anyone who will listen that sport — like life — is not about how fast you arrive.

It’s about whether you noticed the journey. - FMT