The Commonwealth Games 2022, also known as Birmingham 2022, is going to be held in Birmingham, England, from July 28 to August 8. 19 different sports will be played at the mega sports event, with team England competing against 72 nations and commonwealth territories from around the world.
Among the participants are two young, professional cyclists, David Beckham and Ronaldo Singh, who will represent India.
Who Are David Beckham And Ronaldo Singh?
David Beckham and Ronaldo Singh, two Indian professional cyclists who rose to prominence not only for their interesting names but also for their outstanding performances at different sporting events, will represent India at Birmingham 2022.
Named by his grandfather after former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder, David is a 19-years-old cyclist from Car Nicobar, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The pro bagged a gold medal in the 200 metre cycling event at the Youth Games held in Guwahati, in the year 2020.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address during his monthly programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’, on January 26, 2020, had mentioned Beckham, which thrust him into the spotlight. “If I now take the name of David Beckham, you will wonder whether I’m referring to the legendary International Footballer. But now we also have a David Beckham amidst us and he has won a gold medal at the Youth Games in Guwahati. That too in the 200-metre sprint event in cycling,” he said.
In a report, David stated that it was his grandfather who inspired him to start cycling. He moved to New Delhi in 2017 as it was difficult for him to get adequate cycling training in his hometown.
David will be joined in Birmingham by another athlete, Ronaldo Singh, at the event. Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam, a native of Manipur, is a 20-years-old professional cyclist. He was named after the legendary Brazilian football player Ronaldinho (surprisingly, not Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo). But unlike his name, he is uninterested in football. Ronaldo began cycling professionally at the young age of 14, after dabbling in other sports.
The cyclist created history when he won a silver medal in the sprint event held at the Asian Cycling Championship 2022. He was the first-ever Indian athlete to win a silver medal at the championship.
Ronaldo also won a bronze medal in the team sprint event, and a silver medal in the men’s elite sprint race at the Asian Track Cycling Championship, thus setting a national record with a 9.946 second sprint during the quarter-finals.
