BENGALURU: Kenneth Lawrence Powell, who gave up the ghost on Sunday, used to be one in all India’s best sprinters within the Nineteen Sixties and 70s, who blazed the tracks around the globe quickly after the heroics of ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh,
“Powell complained of breathlessness and we rushed him to the medical institution on Sunday morning, however he did not reply to remedy. He used to be wholesome and went to mattress after staring at the World Cup quarterfinal fit between England and France,” family sources told TOI. He is survived by his wife and former athlete Daphne, daughter Michelle and son Geoffrey. His second son Gavin passed away recently.
The 82-year-old Powell, who hailed from Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) and the first athlete from Karnataka to represent India at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, was India’s flag-bearer at the 1966 Games. The ‘Gentleman Sprinter’ was a treasure trove of Indian and world sports with photographic memory of yesteryear — from cricket to hockey to athletics.
Powell, who was the undisputed sprint king in India from 1963–68, winning 17 gold medals in the 100 and 200 metres, competed at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in the 4x400m relay with Milkha Singh and was part of the bronze medal winning 4x100m relay squad in the 1970 Bangkok Asiad. He was honored with the Arjuna award in 1965. He also won the Marshal Tito award.
Powell clocked a national record of 10.74s in 100m (1964), the world record being 10s clocked by Bob Hayes at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In the 200m, the Bengalurean’s best was 21.0 that he timed in Coimbatore in 1962. Powell qualified for the 1962 Commonwealth Games, then British Empire Games, in Perth and then the 1966 edition in Kingston, Jamaica. The 1962 Games turned out to be a big miss for Powell as India pulled out due to the war with China.
“The subsequent version used to be in Jamaica and I used to be fortunate that the Duke of Edinburgh got here and sat at our desk for breakfast,” Powell had told TOI in an interview.
“We trained in Russia for three weeks but on our way to Jamaica we were stranded in Port of Spain for almost a week and were forced to compete without any practice. Also, I injured my hamstring two days before the race and was forced to pull out at the 30m mark,” Powell mentioned.
Grandson of a Welshman who served in an ammunition (Cordite) manufacturing facility within the Nilgiris, Powell started his profession as a deadly tempo bowler of Colonial Sports Club in KGF and broke the jaws of a couple of reputed batsmen. He started his athletics profession in 1959 beneath trainer Krishna, who ran the Rangers Athletic Club, and he skilled on the Annaswamy Mudaliar School in Frazer Town. During his weekly offs from paintings on Thursdays, he used to be on the Sree Kanteerava stadium doing the 300m time trials.
“I started enjoying cricket for ITI after becoming a member of the corporate in 1959. Our trainer used to be the well-known Benjamin Frank, the primary Indian to attain a century in opposition to the West Indies group that had the 3 Ws, all through their excursion to India in 1948.
Frank informed Powell that it might be tricky to make a mark in a group game and suggested the younger guy to change to athletics. “My dream was to play cricket for the country, but it didn’t materialise,” Powell had mentioned.
That transfer helped script a golden bankruptcy in Indian athletics.
TRIBUTE
Powell used to be a humble particular person and we participated in combination on the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. We had been within the training camps and competitions in combination and I discovered him to be an overly disciplined particular person. He used to be one of the most quickest and maximum economical runners within the nation at the moment. — Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, fifth position, 1964 Olympics
Kenny received buddies together with his superb behaviour. He used to be recognized for his fast get started and we had a detailed race on the Madras National Games in 1968 the place he pipped me to the gold in 100m. Kenny, Rajasekharan, Ramesh Tawde and me had been all neck-and-neck however Kenny had extra wins than the remainder. — ASV Prasad, former nationwide champion and ED, SAI.
Indian athletics grew in stature again within the Nineteen Sixties as a result of the efforts of athletes like Kenny Powell who received dash occasions within the National Open Championships and National Inter-State Championships — Adille J Sumariwalla, AFI president
KP used to be a gentleman sprinter. He all the time inspired up and coming athletes and gave me precious guidelines when I used to be his junior. He had speedy legs. He used to be a herbal athlete and did not want a lot coaching. — VR Beedu, Dronacharya awardee trainer.
FASTFACTS
Name: Kenneth Lawrence Powell
Age: 82
Sports: Athletics (sprints) and Cricket (speedy bowler)
Teams: ITI, Railways, TISCO
Olympics: 1964, Tokyo (100m, 4x400m, 4x100m)
Commonwealth Games — 1966, Kingston, Jamaica
Asian Games — 1970, Bangkok (bronze, 4x100m relay)
Awards: Arjuna (1965), Marshal Tito (1965)
National report: 100m — 10.74 (Tokyo Olympics, 1964)
“Powell complained of breathlessness and we rushed him to the medical institution on Sunday morning, however he did not reply to remedy. He used to be wholesome and went to mattress after staring at the World Cup quarterfinal fit between England and France,” family sources told TOI. He is survived by his wife and former athlete Daphne, daughter Michelle and son Geoffrey. His second son Gavin passed away recently.
The 82-year-old Powell, who hailed from Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) and the first athlete from Karnataka to represent India at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, was India’s flag-bearer at the 1966 Games. The ‘Gentleman Sprinter’ was a treasure trove of Indian and world sports with photographic memory of yesteryear — from cricket to hockey to athletics.
Powell, who was the undisputed sprint king in India from 1963–68, winning 17 gold medals in the 100 and 200 metres, competed at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in the 4x400m relay with Milkha Singh and was part of the bronze medal winning 4x100m relay squad in the 1970 Bangkok Asiad. He was honored with the Arjuna award in 1965. He also won the Marshal Tito award.
Powell clocked a national record of 10.74s in 100m (1964), the world record being 10s clocked by Bob Hayes at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In the 200m, the Bengalurean’s best was 21.0 that he timed in Coimbatore in 1962. Powell qualified for the 1962 Commonwealth Games, then British Empire Games, in Perth and then the 1966 edition in Kingston, Jamaica. The 1962 Games turned out to be a big miss for Powell as India pulled out due to the war with China.
“The subsequent version used to be in Jamaica and I used to be fortunate that the Duke of Edinburgh got here and sat at our desk for breakfast,” Powell had told TOI in an interview.
“We trained in Russia for three weeks but on our way to Jamaica we were stranded in Port of Spain for almost a week and were forced to compete without any practice. Also, I injured my hamstring two days before the race and was forced to pull out at the 30m mark,” Powell mentioned.
Grandson of a Welshman who served in an ammunition (Cordite) manufacturing facility within the Nilgiris, Powell started his profession as a deadly tempo bowler of Colonial Sports Club in KGF and broke the jaws of a couple of reputed batsmen. He started his athletics profession in 1959 beneath trainer Krishna, who ran the Rangers Athletic Club, and he skilled on the Annaswamy Mudaliar School in Frazer Town. During his weekly offs from paintings on Thursdays, he used to be on the Sree Kanteerava stadium doing the 300m time trials.
“I started enjoying cricket for ITI after becoming a member of the corporate in 1959. Our trainer used to be the well-known Benjamin Frank, the primary Indian to attain a century in opposition to the West Indies group that had the 3 Ws, all through their excursion to India in 1948.
Frank informed Powell that it might be tricky to make a mark in a group game and suggested the younger guy to change to athletics. “My dream was to play cricket for the country, but it didn’t materialise,” Powell had mentioned.
That transfer helped script a golden bankruptcy in Indian athletics.
TRIBUTE
Powell used to be a humble particular person and we participated in combination on the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. We had been within the training camps and competitions in combination and I discovered him to be an overly disciplined particular person. He used to be one of the most quickest and maximum economical runners within the nation at the moment. — Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, fifth position, 1964 Olympics
Kenny received buddies together with his superb behaviour. He used to be recognized for his fast get started and we had a detailed race on the Madras National Games in 1968 the place he pipped me to the gold in 100m. Kenny, Rajasekharan, Ramesh Tawde and me had been all neck-and-neck however Kenny had extra wins than the remainder. — ASV Prasad, former nationwide champion and ED, SAI.
Indian athletics grew in stature again within the Nineteen Sixties as a result of the efforts of athletes like Kenny Powell who received dash occasions within the National Open Championships and National Inter-State Championships — Adille J Sumariwalla, AFI president
KP used to be a gentleman sprinter. He all the time inspired up and coming athletes and gave me precious guidelines when I used to be his junior. He had speedy legs. He used to be a herbal athlete and did not want a lot coaching. — VR Beedu, Dronacharya awardee trainer.
FASTFACTS
Name: Kenneth Lawrence Powell
Age: 82
Sports: Athletics (sprints) and Cricket (speedy bowler)
Teams: ITI, Railways, TISCO
Olympics: 1964, Tokyo (100m, 4x400m, 4x100m)
Commonwealth Games — 1966, Kingston, Jamaica
Asian Games — 1970, Bangkok (bronze, 4x100m relay)
Awards: Arjuna (1965), Marshal Tito (1965)
National report: 100m — 10.74 (Tokyo Olympics, 1964)