Women's Day - The Heroines of Indian Sport

If we take India as an example, where we have plenty of issues to address - how and why have sports paved a path to acquire the attention of the vast majority of the population?

Well, sports is not just an activity where you step into a field and showcase your skillsets. I can guarantee, it's much more than that. Sports doesn’t revolve only around the people playing it. Sport is a language which has no barriers. Sports is an emotion. It does not have religion, caste, creed and the other debatable factors imposed by the society coming into play. Since, to clinch a victory and to be a part of a community supporting a team, you have to become a part of diverse teams including various regions and religions. Doesn’t matter even if you are pursuing or following an individual sport.

Is Sports male dominated?

To many of us, we have opted and believed sports to be male-centric. The world of sports is dominated by the masculine half of the society if checked upon statistics. However, on the other side of the coin, the feminine section has not been lagging too far behind if the recent results are checked.

In India, for a major span of time, it was believed that the only place where women can prosper is a beauty pageant. When a majority in the nation thought that having women in the world of sport is a loss at business; they bent the rule and showed who’s the boss. As quoted by Ms. Aparna Popat, Former Indian Badminton Champion, Coach & Mentor,  “Women no longer long to be in the sporting world, they have arrived. They are not here to take over the space of the men, they are here to share the space!”

The aforementioned quote is quite true in all relevance, as today, we take a look at the women who are a combination of wonder and power. We list the names of the beautiful ladies who made their mark in athletics and shooting at the recently concluded Asian Games in Indonesia:

Swapna Barman - Women's Heptathlon (Gold)

Swapna is a 22-year-old Indian Heptathlete. She won the Gold Medal at 2018 Asian Games and was also placed at the first position in 2017 Asian Athletics Championship. She is backed by GoSports Foundation through the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme. Being raised from Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, she received an amount of Rs 10 Lacs from the WB Government after winning the Gold Medal at the Asian Games.

Hima Das - Women's 400m (Silver), 4x400m Relay (Gold)

Hima Das is an 18-year-old national record holder. Nicknamed as the Dhing Express, she is a sprinter from the state of tea, Assam. She holds the current Indian national record in 400 meters with a timing of 50.79 seconds that she clocked at the Asian Games in 2018. She is also the first Indian athlete to ever win a gold medal at the IAAF World U-20 Championships. She got conferred with the Arjuna Award by the President of India on 25 September 2018. Among her many records, she was also appointed as the first ever youth ambassador of UNICEF-India in November 2018. She is currently endorsed by Adidas.  

Dutee Chand - Women 100m and 200m (Silver)

Dutee Chand is a 22-year-old Sprinter from Odisha and the current champion in women’s 100metres event. She is the third woman to qualify from India in 100metres Summer Olympic Games. In 2018, Dutee clinched a silverware at the Asian Games in women’s 100m race. Making it the first medal since 1998 in the event. She is also a national champion in the 100m event. She received an award of Rs 3 crore from the government of Orissa for winning the Silver medal. To add a cherry on top of the cake, Chand was also awarded the Padma Shri this year.  

Rahi Sarnobat - Women’s 25m pistol (Gold)

Rahi Sarnobat is a 28-year-old female athlete from Maharashtra. She competes in the event of 25m pistol shooting. She won her first gold medal in 2008 at the Commonwealth Games Youth Games. This year, she bagged a gold at the Asian Games in 25m pistol shooting event.  Sarnobat is the only women shooter to win a medal from India at the Asian Games. Rahi won the bronze medal in world cup 2011 and got selected for the London Olympics in 2012, thereby becoming the first Indian shooter to qualify for the 25 meters sports pistol event in the Olympics. In May 2015, Rahi was recommended for the country’s prestigious, Arjuna Award by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

Neena Varakil - Women’s Long Jump (Silver)

Neena is a 27-year-old athlete from Kerala. She is India’s one of the best active long jumpers in the country. Neena Valikar recorded an effort of 6.51m to win the silver medal at the Asian Games 2018. Yet, her personal best is even better at 6.66m. Neena came into the Asian Games as she emerged at the top in the 2017 Asian Grand Prix Athletics meet in Jiaxing.

So, after reading the significant achievements of the Women in India, let’s be assured that the future of women in sport is emerging and is only to get better in the coming time.