Birmingham Games 2022: ‘Ronaldo’ And ‘Beckham’ To Cycle For India

'Ronaldo' and 'Beckham' are going to cycle for India at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022.

David Beckham and Ronaldo Singh, two professional cyclists from India, will travel with Indian athletes en route to Birmingham for Commonwealth Games 2022. The two will compete in the cycling events in the global event.

David Beckham is a 19-year-old professional cyclist from Car Nicobar, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He clinched a gold in the 200-meter cycling event at the Youth Games held in Guwahati, in 2020. His name is fascinating as he is named after former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder David Beckham. His grandfather named him because he was a big fan of the Englishmen.

Beckham came into the limelight when Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his monthly program, ‘Mann Ki Baat’, talked about him.

“If I now take the name of David Beckham, you will think whether I’m 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-meter sprint event in cycling,” said PM Modi during his address on January 26, 2020.

Along with Beckham, another cyclist will be travelling, namely, Ronaldo Singh. Many people may assume that he is named after the Manchester United Number 7, Cristiano Ronaldo, but it is not the case. He is named after the legendary and iconic Brazilian footballer, Ronaldinho.

The 20-year-old Manipur-born cyclist scripted history when he won the Silver medal in the sprint event at the Asian Cycling Championships 2022. With the win, he also became the first Indian cyclist to win a silver medal (including the Elite category) at the Asian Track Championship.

At the Asian Track Cycling Championships (ATCC), Ronaldo won a bronze in the team sprint event and a silver medal in the men’s elite sprint race. He had created a national record in the quarter-final with a 9.946s sprint (first Indian to breach the 10-sec mark). The bronze was India’s first-ever medal in the senior category at the Asian Championships.

Three years ago, Ronaldo along with Rojit Singh and Esow Alban, created history by winning India’s first-ever gold medal at the Junior World Championships.

The two cyclists will be aiming to not just grab the attention of the people with their names, but with their skill-set and game as well as India hasn’t gained much prominence in the sport of Cycling.