IPOH: Perak track guru Suppiah Ramalingam, who shaped three Olympians, one of them within 180 days, has died at the age of 94.
Suppiah breathed his last at a physio and care facility here on Sunday, about two weeks after suffering a stroke. The wake will be at 33, Jalan Bandar Baru Tambun 6, Bandar Baru Tambun in Ipoh before the cremation today at 3pm.
He had a pivotal role in Malaysia’s glory years in athletics during the 1960s; it took him about six months to help speed queen M Rajamani to qualify for the 400m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
While he served athletics selflessly, his life-long dedication to the sport has been tragically overlooked.
His son Rajendran said it was sad his father died a forgotten sports figure despite his enormous contributions to Malaysian athletics.
Suppiah had in an interview in April told FMT: “What has the nation done for me in recognition of my services to athletics? Many people enjoyed my sporting journey with me but the nicest thing is when you are thanked and remembered.”
He lamented then that he missed his friends in the athletics circle.
Gala to remember a legend
The FMT article prompted junior athletics development organisation Young Talent Track & Field Sdn Bhd (YTTF) to organise an event to honour Suppiah and 11 other Perak track and field legends.
YTTF chief executive officer Sritharan Arumugam said it was unfortunate that Suppiah had died before the gala dinner here on July 9 “but he will be well-remembered posthumously”.
He said among those whose accomplishments will be celebrated are star athletes who flourished in their early years under Suppiah.
They are Rajamani, Malaysia’s first sportswoman of the year in 1967, former Malaysian 400m hurdles record holder Karu Selvaratnam and ex-400m champion and national elite coach K Jayabalan.
Tributes from the champs
Tributes poured in for Suppiah from luminaries like former fastest man in Asia M Jegathesan, Rajamani, Jayabalan, ex-national sprinter T Krishnan and Perak Athletics Association president Karim Ibrahim.
They praised him for his exemplary sacrifice, courage and incredible nurturing of young athletes
Karu said: “He was a good coach and a fine gentleman. Apart from me, he trained many other champions over his years of coaching. I salute him for his greatness and dedication to athletics.”
He said Suppiah was a Perak champion in the sprints and hurdles and was the envy of budding athletes when he first met him as a schoolboy athlete in 1957.
Suppiah honed his skills as a sprinter and hurdler as athletics captain of the Alagappa College in Madras. On his return home, he trained under noodle maker Chye Kooi Loong and ran the 100m in 10.9s on grass.
Prodigy’s prodigious feat
Karu, a former navy lieutenant commander, recalled a gruelling episode at the national championships at Farrer Park in Singapore in 1965 when Suppiah was his coach.
He said he ran seven gruelling 400m races over the two-day competition, having been fielded for the 400m hurdles, 400m flat and the 4x400m relay.
On the final day at Farrer Park, he won the 400m semi-final at 9am, broke the 400m hurdles national record five hours later, and at 4pm, beat a star-studded field to win the 400m in 48.4s.
Karu said Suppiah took exceptional care of him and “I owe him plenty for having taught me the basics in hurdling, which put me on the right path for my successes in later years”.
The ‘father-son’ relationship of Suppiah and Niza Haniz Mustaffa is stimulating and a credit to a teacher-coach who helped young athletes to believe in themselves.
“He patiently observed me and seemed to have in his mind the direction I should take in my life as an athlete and as a person,” said Niza, who was three years old when his parents were divorced.
“He was a fatherly figure to me and saw my potential more than I did,” said Niza, a former Perak 400m and 400m hurdles champion. “He shaped me, my thoughts and actions in my early years.”
Gifts for the gifted and speedy
Niza said Suppiah was a generous man and presented him with an Adidas tracksuit when he wore the Anglo Chinese School vest upon moving to Methodist High School.
Suppiah did the same by buying Rajamani her first tracksuit when she went to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and paid his own fare to watch her in action as a spectator.
When Suppiah saw Niza training with Fung Keong shoes, he gave him a pair of Adidas shoes and later presented him with running spikes on his birthday.
Upon learning that Niza’s single mother was struggling to make ends meet, Suppiah convinced school principal Teerath Ram to reduce the school fees for the promising athlete.
“He inculcated in me the virtues of caring and sharing regardless of race, religion and backgrounds,” said Niza, who is now actively promoting resilient communities and is the co-founder of KASEH4U that once provided free meals to the homeless in Kuala Lumpur.
Suppiah also inspired his charges to put adversity behind, especially Rajamani, who was a target of snide remarks about a Ceylonese girl running around in shorts at a time when female athletes were a rarity.
He constantly encouraged women to make a positive impact on their communities.
His friend, the turbo grandpa
A childhood friend, L Pushpanathan, 93, said Suppiah had a way of getting the best out of his trainees and building a strong family of athletes.
Suppiah and Pushpanathan formed the Swifts, one of the pioneer running clubs in the country, in the 1950s, to develop grassroots talent.
“All my friends from that time who devoted their time to athletics are gone and it’s heart-breaking that all our efforts have not been officially recognised,” said Pushpanathan.
Pushpanathan, dubbed the “turbo grandpa”, said it would have been nice had Suppiah seen him winning the 100m and 200m in his age group at the Malaysian Masters Open Championships in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.
Suppiah’s wife, Kamala Devi, 84, stood by him as he spent time on the field and took up a coaching role in the national team from 1963 to 1967 after he was twice named Perak Coach of the Year (1963 and 1965).
She tolerated his wide travels even as he paid his own fare to three Olympics – Tokyo 1964, Seoul 1988 and Sydney 2000 – and several other international meets to broaden his coaching skills and watch world class runners. - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.