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The head coach of the para-athletics team at Glasgow 2026, Satyanarayana Shimoga, credited the Government of India's support, along with encouragement from social and print media, for motivating the country's para-athletes after India scripted a historic one-two finish in the men's T47 100m at the Commonwealth Games 2026.
India celebrated one of its finest moments of the Glasgow Games on Day 7 as Dilip Mahadu Gavit won the gold medal in a Commonwealth Games record time of 10.71 seconds, while Mohammed Basil Morssinganakth claimed silver in 10.83 seconds to complete an unprecedented Indian 1-2 finish in the event. Reflecting on the achievement, Satyanarayana told ANI, "My athlete has been greatly motivated by the support received from the Government of India, as well as from social media and the print media. Dilip used to run the 400 meters, but I switched him to the 100-meter event because, having been an athlete myself, I knew he had the potential to excel in it. Then there is Basil; this is his first major competition. He has a bright future ahead. We are looking forward to 1st August at 11 o'clock, where we are going to win gold and silver in the shot put." The coach's tactical decision to move Gavit from the 400m to the 100m paid rich dividends, with the Maharashtra sprinter producing a sensational late burst to secure India's third gold medal of the Games. Basil, competing in his first major international championship, backed up the performance by holding off England's Kevin Santos to seal the silver medal. Team India's general manager Rahul Swami said the result did not come as a surprise within the Indian camp, insisting the contingent had expected a strong medal haul in Glasgow. "This might be surprising to you, but our team, the coaches, physiotherapists, and all the technical staff, had actually anticipated this. We weren't talking about it much because we wanted to surprise the country by winning more medals in this Commonwealth Games than we had in previous ones... It was expected, though; they (Gavit and Basil) train very closely together and share similar strengths. And if you look at the last 10 meters, they suddenly accelerated and secured the gold and silver," Swami said. The historic sprint double came after long jumper Murali Sreeshankar had opened India's account on Day 7 by winning silver in the men's long jump with a best effort of 8.09m, his second successive Commonwealth Games silver medal. India ended Day 7 with 15 medals in Glasgow--three gold, nine silver, and three bronze--with the performances of Gavit and Basil emerging as one of the standout moments of the country's campaign so far. India's medallists so far are Mirabai Chanu (gold, weightlifting), Sharmila Dhankar (gold, women's shot put F57), Dilip Mahadu Gavit (gold, men's T47 100m), Mohammed Basil Morssinganakth (silver, men's T47 100m), Murali Sreeshankar (silver, men's long jump), Rishikanta Singh (silver, weightlifting), Muthupandi Raja (silver, weightlifting), Gyaneshwari Yadav (silver, weightlifting), Sarvesh Kushare (silver, men's high jump), Gulveer Singh (silver, men's 10,000m), Harjinder Kaur (silver, weightlifting), Valluri Ajaya Babu (silver, weightlifting), Bindyarani Devi (bronze, weightlifting), Shilpa K. Shyla (bronze, women's shot put F57) and Jhandu Kumar (bronze, para powerlifting). (ANI)
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