# Hari Chand: Hoshiarpur’s Asian Games Double Gold Medallist

- Link: https://hoshiarpurtoday.com/hari-chand-hoshiarpurs-asian-games-double-gold-medallist/
- Published: 2026-10-28T13:17:57+05:30
- Author: RAMAN KUMAR SAHDEV

![Portrait of Indian distance runner Hari Chand](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/d/de/Hari_Chand_%281_April_1953_-13_June_2022%29.jpg)

Hari Chand. Credit: Sarbjit Bahga, [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hari_Chand_(1_April_1953_-13_June_2022).jpg),
[CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Image unchanged;
displayed at reduced size.

**From Ghorewaha village in Hoshiarpur district to the Olympic track, Hari Chand
built one of India’s outstanding distance-running careers.** His legacy rests on
two Asian Games gold medals, two Olympic appearances and a national record that 
endured for 32 years.

## Seoul 1975: the breakthrough

Born on 1 April 1953, Hari Chand joined the CRPF in 1972. At the 1975 Asian Athletics
Championships in Seoul, he won gold in the 10,000 metres and bronze in the 5,000
metres. The CRPF records his Arjuna Award for athletics in 1975.

## Bangkok 1978: the golden double

His two Asian Games gold medals both came at Bangkok in 1978: one in the 5,000 metres
and one in the 10,000 metres. The Indian Olympic Association’s medal records confirm
this double. The Seoul championship and Bangkok Asian Games were separate events.

## Barefoot at the Olympics

Running barefoot in the 1976 Montreal Olympic 10,000 metres heats, he clocked 28:
48.72. He finished eighth in his heat, rather than eighth in the Olympic final. 
Although he did not qualify for the final, his Indian record stood until Surendra
Singh improved it in 2008. Hari Chand also represented India in the 10,000 metres
and marathon at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

## Hoshiarpur remembers

Hari Chand died in June 2022, aged 69. His journey connects the district’s village
sporting culture with the highest levels of Asian athletics. Remembering him means
preserving the details of those achievements as well as the determination they represent.

## Sources

 * [CRPF biography](https://crpf.gov.in/Upload/MediaGallery/13841117.pdf)
 * [Athletics Federation of India tribute](https://indianathletics.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AFI-Newsletter-July-2022.pdf)
 * [Indian Olympic Association: Bangkok 1978](https://olympic.ind.in/international-game/asian-games-bangkok-thailand-1978/)
 * [Olympedia: Hari Chand](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/71378)