75 years of independence: Iconic moments from Indian sports – Kamaljit Sandhu wins 400m gold at 1970 Asian Games

At the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1970, Kamaljit Sandhu won the 400-meter gold medal.

At the sixth Asian Games in Bangkok on December 14, 1970, India’s sprint diva Kamaljit Sandhu lit up the 400-meter photo-finish final and the Bangkok tracks.

With a clean sprint, Kamaljit took the lead and held it for the first 200 metres, but Taiwan’s hot favourite Chi Cheng caught up to her and appeared destined to finish second to none.

Chi Cheng, however, dropped on the track 50 metres from the tape, moaning in agony from a muscle pull. At that point, Kamaljit was about 10 metres behind.

Kamaljit passed Aviva Balass of Israel in a split second. There was a painful period of tension as both Balass and Kamaljit were timed 57.8 seconds.

It was the camera which gave its verdict in favour of Kamaljit.