Indervir Grewal

Chandigarh, July 2

The excitement of the evening events had faded into the sultry night and the floodlit stadium had all but emptied out. Standing near the exit, Parvej Khan was getting ready to leave when he was asked for selfies by a few of the remaining spectators. Parvej, having just received his gold medal, agreed hesitantly. The 19-year-old, who won the 1,500 metres final in Panchkula last week for his first National Inter-State Championship title, is still getting used to the extra attention.

With my training and studies, which I cannot afford to ignore, I have a very busy routine. I got a bit overwhelmed at the start. But things have settled down. I have made friends, I am getting better at my studies and most importantly I am improving on the track. Parvej Khan

Though it was his first competition in India in almost a year, Khan’s popularity had preceded him thanks to his exploits in the USA.

Khan, who is studying in Florida on scholarship, had a busy spring season on the collegiate circuit, including a gold at the SEC Outdoor Track amp; Field Championships in May.

The video of his incredible kick down the final stretch, with his long hair flowing back and his necklace held between his teeth, has only added to his growing legend.

Khan had already made history in March, becoming the first Indian track athlete to compete in the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships, finishing seventh in the mile short track final.

Khan’s journey — from Haryana’s hinterland to rubbing shoulders with Olympians in the USA — seems to have come straight out of a storybook.

“Growing up in a village in Haryana, I had never imagined I would one day be studying in America and training with Olympics medallists,” said Khan, who belongs to Chahalka in Nuh district.

Khan, whose father is a small-scale farmer, started running in his preteens mainly to prepare for the army recruitment test. But he took to racing like a fish to water, beating boys five years older than him in village races. In search of better facilities, a 13-year-old Khan moved to Delhi, where he lived with his uncle and trained at the JLN Stadium. A year later, he shifted to the SAI centre in Bhopal. After an impressive run on the junior circuit, Khan won his first senior gold in 2021, which helped him get recruited by the Indian Navy.

The National Games gold in 2022 earned him a spot in the national camp. It was during one of the Indian contingent’s training stints at the Olympics training centre in Colorado that his career took an unexpected turn.

On the advice of a social media friend, a foreign athlete studying in the USA, Khan applied and got admission into the University of Florida in Gainesville, also earning a sports scholarship.

“It was difficult in the beginning because of the language barrier. With my training and studies, which I cannot afford to ignore, I have a very busy routine. I got a bit overwhelmed at the start. But things have settled down. I have made friends, I am getting better at my studies and most importantly I am improving on the track,” he said.

Last month, Khan improved his personal best to 3 minutes, 36.21 seconds.

Though he comfortably won the final in Panchkula, his timing (3:42.95) was far from his best.

“I arrived in India just three days before the race. It was nice and cool in America but very humid here, so I couldn’t do my best,” he said.

But Khan is focussing on his long-term targets. “I will return to the US in August. Till then I will most likely train in Bhopal. My university coach will send me the training programme,” he said. “I am targeting next year’s Asian Championships, and then obviously bigger events like the Asian Games and the Olympics. But I just want to focus on my training at this point,” he said.

Khan also has Jinson Johnson’s national record of 3:35.24 in his crosshairs. “My target is 3:30 and I am working hard towards it,” he said.