Kenneth Lawrence Powell (20 April 1940 – 11 December 2022), popularly known as "The Gentleman Sprinter", was an Indian track and field athlete from the state of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. He competed in the 1964 Olympics and the 1970 Asian Games. He was a recipient of the Government of India's

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

in 1965 and Government of Karnataka's Rajyotsava Award in 2018.

Early life

Powell was born on 20 April 1940 in

Kolar Kolar may refer to: Places India * Kolar, Karnataka, a city in India **Kolar Assembly constituency *Kolar district, in Karnataka, India *Kolar Gold Fields, former gold mines in Karnataka, India **KGF (disambiguation) **Kolar Gold Field Assembly co ...

, in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. His first major event was a third-place finish at the 1957 National School Games in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

(present-day Kolkata).

Career

Powell moved to

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

when he was 19, and joined the Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) Limited, where he was coached by the Rangers Athletics club's coach Krishna. In an interview many years later, Powell would admit that his becoming an athlete was an accident. He set out to be a cricketer and was a fast bowler with ITI. Coach Benjamin Frank recommended that he pick up sprinting after seeing his ability to run fast. Powell was one of India's top athletes in the 1960s and was known to have had a healthy rivalry with Milkha Singh. He was a member of the Indian

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

team that made it to the semifinals of the

1964 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequ ...

. In the same Olympics, he also represented the country in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

sprint events. He was also a member of the team that won

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

at the 1970 Asian Games. He had previously been left off the squad for the

1966 Asian Games The 1966 Asian Games, also known as the V Asiad or Bangkok 1966, were a continental multi-sport event that was held from 9 to 20 December 1966, in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 142 events in 16 sports were contested by athletes during the games. T ...

also in Bangkok. During his career, Powell took home 19 sprinting titles from events all over India. Powell also represented Karnataka in the National Handball Championship in 1970 and also won the silver medal for the 40–44 age-group in the 100m event at the Asia Masters Athletics Championships in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in 1981. He was also a finalist in the 45–49 age-group event at the

World Masters Athletics Championships The World Masters Athletics Championships are the biennial championships for masters athletics events held under the auspices of World Masters Athletics, formerly called the World Association of Veteran Athletes, for athletes 35 years of age or ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He was also known as ''The Gentleman Sprinter''. After working at the ITI, he was employed with the railways, and later with

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, with its primary operations based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel ...

from where he retired in 1997. Powell remained associated with athletics in Karnataka after his retirement. He had spoken out against the Kanteerava Stadium's state and had suggested a ban on use of the facilities for non-sporting purposes.

Awards

Powell received the

from the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in 1965. He was the first sportsperson from Karnataka to win the award. He received the Karnataka government's Rajyotsava Award in 2018.

Personal life and death

Powell was married to Daphne Powell (née Simon), who was also an athlete in her younger years. The couple lived in the Cooke Town neighborhood of Bangalore. Powell died in Bangalore on 11 December 2022, at age 82.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Kenneth 1940 births 2022 deaths People from Kolar Indian male sprinters Olympic athletes for India Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games athletes for India Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 Asian Games Athletes from Karnataka Anglo-Indian people Asian Games bronze medalists for India Asian Games athletes for India Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2018 Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Games bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)