Meet Lalita Babar, A Farmer¡¯s Daughter Who Fought Her Way To Asian Games Medal
Lalita Babar is one of the best modern day Indian long-distance runners. The 30-year-old came from a family of farmers in Satara, Maharashtra. Started her career as a long- distance runner at a young age. Won her first Gold medal in the U-20 National Championships at Pune in 2005.
From the fields in Satara to winning medals for India at the big stage, Lalita Babar has fought her way to the very top.
It has not been an easy road to being one of the best modern day Indian long-distance runners, but Lalita has overcome all odds to make all the noise on the race tracks.
Credits: IANS
Lalita started her career in athletics as a long-distance runner at a young age. She won her first Gold medal in the U-20 National Championships at Pune in 2005.
At a very young age, she showed great promise and was lighting quick on the race tracks. In 2014, she won her third consecutive Mumbai marathon. Determined to win a medal in multi-discipline events like the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, she switched to 3000 metres steeplechase in January 2014, following her win at the marathon.
Credits: PTI
Her true moment of reckoning came at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, when she won the bronze medal clocking 9:35.37 in the final. In the process, she broke the national record held by Sudha Singh. It was an achievement fitting of the hard work and determination put in by the Maharashtra native.
The following year it got better at the 2015 Asian Championships, as Lalita raced to a gold medal win clocking at 9:34.13 and in the process broke her own personal record, the Indian national record and the games record. In the process, she qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Credits: AFP
At the Rio Summer Olympics, she bettered it with a time of 9:19.76 in her heat, qualifying to the final, and in the process became the first Indian in 32 years to enter a final in any track event . It was an outstanding run and a feat that took more than three decades for any Indian to achieve.
It has been quite a jorney - from humble beginnings to making her mark for her country on the international stage. A life that has drawn inspiration from the struggle and strived to the great heights.