Nine Gold Medals Questions and Answers | Class 9 Kaveri

Athletes have travelled from all over the country, their weeks and months of training now coming down to these games and their dreams of gold, silver and bronze. Spectators ring the old field, cheering the young men and women as the day’s final event — the hundred-yard dash — approaches. Nine resolved athletes wait at the starting line, poised for the gun.

The pistol explodes and the runners explode with it, charging ahead — but the smallest among them stumbles, staggers and falls to the asphalt. His cry of frustration and anguish says everything: his dreams and efforts lie dashed in the dirt. The narrator then assures the audience that an unexpected change followed. This creates suspense; it does not establish an eyewitness biography.

The eight other runners stop in their tracks. One by one, the very athletes who trained so long to compete turn around, go back, and raise the young boy to his feet. Then all nine join hands and finish the hundred-yard dash — now a walk — together, beneath a banner reading “Special Olympics” that could not have been more fitting. The race ends with nine gold medals, nine beaming faces still holding hands at the finish line, and a standing ovation that says more than words ever could.

These are distinct organisations. Special Olympics is not another name for the Paralympics. Source: Special Olympics comparison.

1. Sympathy — expressing sorrow for another person’s difficulty.
2. Empathy — trying to understand that person’s feelings and perspective.
3. Compassion — understanding distress and acting to help.

This is the intended one-to-one match. In real situations the categories overlap: the first response also offers food, which can be an act of compassion.

1. dashed in the dirt — (ii) destroyed  |  2. stumbled — (iv) step awkwardly, lose balance and almost fall  |  3. staggered — (i) walk or move with difficulty  |  4. anguish — (v) extreme pain or suffering  |  5. asphalt — (iii) a hard black substance used to make roads and paths

1. Two examples of alliteration: (i) “stumbled and staggered” (repetition of ‘st’) and (ii) “dreams… dashed in the dirt” (repetition of ‘d’).

2. Three examples of visual imagery: (i) the spectators gathered around the old field; (ii) the runners charging ahead as the smallest stumbles and falls to the asphalt; (iii) the nine athletes crossing the finish line holding hands, faces beaming.

3. An example of auditory imagery: “the pistol exploded” (also the boy’s cry of frustration and anguish).

4. How does the use of imagery make the poem more appealing?
The imagery turns the poem into a live telecast: we see the crowded field and the fall, hear the gun and the cry, and watch nine athletes holding hands cross the line. Because we witness the scene rather than being told about it, the emotional turn from heartbreak to joy strikes us with full force.

5. How does the poet’s tone change from the beginning to the end?
It begins excited and expectant as the race builds up, plunges into shock and anguish when the smallest runner falls, and then rises into warmth, admiration and quiet triumph as the eight turn back and all nine finish together.

6. What is the overall mood created by the poem?
Inspiring and heart-warming — the reader is left moved, uplifted and full of faith in human goodness.

7. What is the message being conveyed by the poem?
That compassion is greater than competition. True sportsmanship — and true humanity — lies in helping the fallen, even at the cost of one’s own victory; the shared medals in this poem symbolise the value of care. This is not a rule that all participants receive gold in actual competitions.

(i) The phrase ‘pulled up on their heels’ means that the runners ______.
B. stopped running

(ii) Mention one character trait common to all the eight other runners.
Compassion (empathy) — they valued a fellow runner’s dignity above their own victory.

(iii) What is the tone of the poet in these lines?
Admiring and appreciative — he narrates the runners’ selfless act with wonder and warmth.

(iv) How might the young athlete have felt on being helped by the others?
He may have felt relief, gratitude and renewed confidence when the other runners helped him. Their actions showed that he was included. These feelings are reasonable inferences; the poem does not call this the proudest moment of his life.

(v) Would you consider this incident as a turning point in the poem?
Yes. Until this stanza the poem is an ordinary race story of training, ambition and mischance; from the moment the eight turn back, it becomes a story about humanity. The competition dissolves into companionship, and the poem’s real theme — empathy above ambition — takes over.

(i) How did the nine contestants feel when they reached the finishing line together?
They felt joyful, proud and content — their “beaming faces” showed a happiness deeper than any single victory could give.

(ii) Why do you think all the nine contestants were given gold medals?
Within the poem, the nine medals honour shared compassion and the decision to finish together. The ending makes them equal participants in this moral victory. The text does not explain an official judges’ decision or establish a real competition rule.

(iii) The holding of hands signifies a feeling of ______.
…unity, solidarity, equality and shared joy.

(iv) The spectators giving a ‘standing ovation’ indicates that they were ______.
A. amazed

(v) Explain the last line of the extract.
The poet admits that language has limits: the sight of the audience on its feet and nine radiant faces at the finish line expressed the beauty of that moment more completely than any words — including the poem’s own — ever could. Some truths are felt, not told.

1. Describe how the setting established in the first two stanzas creates a vivid atmosphere for the events that follow.
The opening stanzas assemble all the ingredients of high drama: athletes drawn from all over the country, months of training compressed into one day, dreams of gold, silver and bronze, and spectators ringing the old field, their excitement peaking as the final event approaches. This charged, festive atmosphere makes the sudden fall more heartbreaking — and the act of kindness that follows more luminous.

2. How do you think the youngest athlete might have felt when he fell?
His cry directly expresses frustration and anguish: he fears that his training and hopes have come to nothing. Embarrassment is a possible inference. The question calls him “youngest”, while the poem itself says “smallest”; physical size does not prove exact age.

3. Why were the athletes eager to begin the race?
They had trained for many weeks and months for this moment; it was the final event of the day, the crowd was cheering, and each was resolved to win the gold, silver or bronze that their efforts had pointed towards.

4. What does the transformation of the hundred-yard dash to a walk symbolise?
It symbolises the victory of fellowship over rivalry. Speed — the very essence of a dash — is willingly surrendered so that no one is left behind; competition becomes companionship. The walk declares that reaching the goal together matters more than reaching it first.

5. How might the poem be different if the focus was solely on individual achievement rather than collective support?
A version focused only on individual achievement might follow the leading runner’s speed, effort and result. The shared walk and mutual support would no longer be its centre. This is a hypothetical contrast; an individual winner need not be unkind, and the poem does not describe every alternative outcome.

6. How does the poet’s use of language and tone enhance the reader’s engagement with the poem?
Roth writes like a storyteller at the trackside: simple, vivid verbs (charging, stumbled, staggered), sound effects (the exploding pistol), and a personal oath — “as sure as I’m standing here” — that makes us trust the tale. The tone rises and falls with the action, so the reader’s heart races, sinks and soars along with the runners.

7. What might be the poet’s purpose of writing this poem?
A likely purpose is to invite readers to value empathy and shared dignity alongside achievement. The story’s unexpected turn asks us to consider what makes someone a winner. This is an interpretation of the poem, not proof of a particular historical incident.

“final event” and “beaming faces” (also acceptable: “young women”, “starting line”).

1. littlest — youngest  2. smiling — positive  3. huge — loud  4. terrible — significant  5. gaudy — noisy

1. Patrick Gomes began his career in sports with track events. — True (he began with track events in 1991 in Chennai).
2. Patrick Gomes has been coaching special athletes for 10 years. — False (the transcript says over 15 years at the time of that account; this is not a freshly updated duration).
3. Patrick Gomes does all the household work himself. — True (he lives by himself and does all the daily chores).

1. ‘Push your boundaries’ means listeners should — (i) challenge themselves.
2. Patrick Gomes is at present — (ii) a coach of special athletes.
3. The Special Olympic Games at Connecticut was a — (ii) turning point for him.
4. As a special athlete, he mostly participated in — (iii) football.
5. Sports is essential because it encourages — (i) a positive outlook along with fitness (and discipline).

A: What is your opinion on the Special Olympics?
B: Personally, I believe that they are among the most important sporting events in the world, because they promote inclusion — they give athletes with intellectual disabilities a stage to train, compete and be celebrated. How do you feel about their impact on the athletes themselves?
A: I hold the opinion that the impact is life-changing: athletes gain confidence, fitness, friendships and dignity — like Patrick Gomes, whose whole life changed after his first Games. In your view, how can we create more awareness?
B: From my perspective, schools should screen events like the Special Olympics, invite para and special athletes as guests, and run inclusive sports days — shared play can support acceptance when it is accessible, respectful and well organised.

1. Special Olympics: Train Together, Celebrate Every Athlete.
2. Share the Track, Respect Every Dream.
3. Make Room for Talent, Friendship and Joy.

Each is within the textbook’s eight-to-ten-word maximum. Create your own wording for class.

This is an awareness poster, not an announcement of a real event. If your class organises an event, add its confirmed date, venue and contact details before displaying it.

Two further examples: Special Olympics Bharat’s Berlin 2023 report records four powerlifting silvers for T. Vishal of Puducherry and an 800 m Level C gold for Geetanjali Nagvekar of Goa. Use the sport, event, division, year and source in a short athlete profile rather than combining these results with Paralympic medals. Read the official report, printed page 39.

This diagram shows the sequence, not the shape or scale of the track. Base any detailed rule panel on the current World Athletics relay information. Present it with short labels and credited images. The textbook’s Olympic/Special Olympics infographic is an example of a format, not a requirement to copy its entire history section.