NEW DELHI: After clinching a gold medal in the junior Team Sprint event at the Asian Track Cycling Championships here, India’s Sarita Kumari, whose father works as a mason in Jharkhand, wants to provide a better life for her parents.
Her journey to the podium is inspirational. Despite her father's profession of building houses, Savita, who has five sisters and two brothers, has a semi-constructed home.
She was selected in the Khelo India SAI centre in Patiala based on her running skills in 2021. It was there that she encountered a bicycle for the first time.
"At the SAI centre, I saw a bicycle for the first time, I had no idea where the brakes were and all. Our coach Joginder sir explained everything to us," recalled Sarita.
Sarita exhibited her prowess in the Junior Women's category at the recent Asian Track Cycling Championships 2024 in New Delhi, clinching the bronze medal with an impressive final time of 36.966 seconds. Her exceptional talent was evident from the qualifying round, where she clocked in at 36.912 seconds, securing her a well-deserved spot in the finals.
Besides her bronze, Sarita was also the part of the women's junior team, comprising Niya Sebastian, Zaina Mohammed, Ali Pirkhan and Sabina Kumari who created history by beating Korea with an impressive timing of 53.383s to win gold in the team sprint event.
Sarita's parents are not quite aware of what sport she is doing as she revealed that "My father knows that I play for India, but he doesn't know exactly at what level I am and what I play. My mother still thinks that I do athletics and doesn't know that I do cycle racing" while revealing that her parents have never watched her doing sports as they didn't have a TV or smartphone at home.
Sarita started sports with a fervent desire to adorn her country's crest with medals, regardless of the sport in which she competed with the target to attain a good job and secure a better lifestyle for her folks.
"I was not fond of cycling, I just wanted to win medals for India, no matter what the game. Then I got selected in cycling, so I focused on that only. I aim to win medals for my country so that I can secure a job and provide a better life for my parents."