A pair of Indian cyclists named after football legends David Beckham and Ronaldo will catch the eye when they take to the velodrome at the Commonwealth Games next week.
David Beckham Elkatohchoongo and Ronaldo Laitonjam Singh have dominated the Indian cycling scene and will hope to create their own legacies by winning gold at the Games in Glasgow.
Sports fans may be bemused when they see the pair’s names on the timesheets at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome, having hailed from football-mad families.
‘My [uncle] is a big fan of David Beckham’s,’ Beckham Elkatohchoongot, 23, told Times of India in 2020.
‘I have never seen a mad fan like him. In 2002 they celebrated and danced all night when Beckham scored the goal [against Argentina at the World Cup] and took his team to a win.
‘I was born in 2003 and he fought with my mother and my [grandfather] to give me the name ‘David Beckham.’ That’s how I got the name.’
An Indian cyclist named David Beckham will be going for gold at the Commonwealth Games
He is named after England legend Golden Balls, while his Indian team-mate Ronaldo is named after football icon Ronaldinho (left)
Beckham Elkatohchoongo crashed out at the 2022 Commonwealth Games but there is genuine hope that he will win gold this time around.
Ronaldo, 24, is named after Brazil and Barcelona legend Ronaldinho, rather than Ronaldo Nazario or Cristiano Ronaldo.
The day before he was born, Ronaldinho famously lobbed England goalkeeper David Seaman to send the Three Lions home from the 2002 World Cup.
His father made a bet that the Brazilian’s free kick would go in and, as the ball went into the back of the net, his phone rang with news of his wife going into labour.
‘Just as the ball went in the goal, I must have started making an appearance,’ the cyclist told The Hindu.
‘I think my dad won some money that day. That’s probably why I got that name. He felt I was very lucky for him.’
Beckham will compete in the men’s Keirin while Ronaldo is in the men’s 1000m time trial.
