The 400m runner announced herself as the next big thing in Indian athletics as she became the first Indian to win a silver (400m relay) and individual bronze at the World U-20 Athletics Championships in Colombia.
Kolkata: The World U-20 Athletics Championships have been a spectacle for India over the years as it has produced some of the leading names of Indian track and field in the recent past. The list notably includes Neeraj Chopra (gold in 2016) and Hima Das (gold in 2018). Last year’s edition in Nairobi was also a memorable one as 17-year-old long jump prodigy Shaili Singh announced her arrival with a silver medal while India bagged record three medals in total.
The 2022 edition in Colombia’s Cali, running adjacent to the Commonwealth Games, somewhat slipped under the radar with medals galore in Birmingham as the double-medal heroics of 17-year-old Rupal Chaudhury went unnoticed. The 400m runner became the first Indian to win a silver (400m relay) and individual bronze at the biggest junior tournament.
More than the two medals, the prowess of the teenager from Meerut was put to test as Rupal ran as many as seven races over six days on her international debut. This included a stunning photo finish in the mixed team final on the second day as the teenager ran a split of 51.82 seconds in the last leg to finish just 0.07 seconds behind the USA. India also set a new Asian U-20 record of 3:17.76 seconds while bettering the colour of the medal from Nairobi.
However, feeling exhausted and her muscles stiff in the build-up to her individual 400m finals on the fourth day meant Rupal didn’t really fancy her chances of a medal until she was reminded how good her form has been in Colombia.
“Since we arrived in Colombia a day before the start of the tournament (due to a visa delay), I didn’t get much time to adjust to the conditions and time zone change (11 and a half hours),” Rupal tells Firstpost from her village Shahjahanpur. “By the time of the individual final, I felt I am running out of steam. Coaches remind me that I am only getting faster in the final as I ran my personal best of 52.27 seconds (previously 52.48 sec) in semi-finals.”
The reigning national champion certainly exceeded her expectations in the final as she entered sub-52 seconds for the first time in individuals with a timing of 51.85 seconds to finish third behind Great Britain’s winner Yemi Mary John (51.50 seconds) and Kenya’s Damaris Mutunga (51.71 seconds).
The result had historical significance as well as this was India’s second medal in the event ever since Hima (51.46 seconds) won the gold medal in Tampere in 2018 and Priya HM (52.77 secs) came closest with a fourth-place finish in 2021. Comparisons with Hima were inescapable as she was just 0.39 seconds behind India’s best in the age category.
Rupal only had gratitude to show on being compared with someone who has always been an inspiration to her.
“Honestly, it feels like a bit too much to be compared with Hima as she has achieved things I only dream of now. Her success at the world level has always been an inspiration for me. I took up sports after watching Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu win medals at the Olympics but Hima di’s success at World U-20 and then at Asian Games has inspired many of us,” she says.
Asian Games awaiting
Despite her reluctance, Rupal may find herself in the shoes of Hima as early as next season with the Asian Games in Hangzhou awaiting, where the athletics federation (AFI) would be aiming to retain their women’s 400m relay title for the sixth time since 2002. This put the teenager in the mix of things as her 51.85 secs timing was only the third sub-52 run by an Indian this year behind senior runners Aishwarya Mishra (51.18 secs) Kiran Pahal (51.84 secs).
Rupal may still enter the next season as the most exciting face in the Asiad year as both Aishwarya and Kiran fazed out after early season exploits in the domestic circuit. This led to mistrust from the AFI, who decided against sending a women’s 400m representation at the big-ticket events at the senior World Championships and Birmingham recently.
Rupal’s performance, on the other hand, has only been encouraging as she picked up pace progressing step-by-step in the season. The same went down in Cali, where her performance got better with the quality of the opponents improving, making her childhood coach Vishal Saxena believe her student will be ready for the Asian Games.
“Ap dekhte jao, ladki abhi bhot aage jaegi (Rupal has a bright future in front of her). she will be ready for her senior season and Asian Games as there’s so much potential left in her,” says Vishal, who runs an athletics academy in Meerut. “We prepared for the World U-20 for two years and I saw her improve from 54 seconds to 52 seconds and I knew she will go beyond 52 seconds in Colombia.”
‘Made for 400m’
Coach Vishal vividly recalls when Rupal came to him with her father Omvir few years ago looking for a coach who could teach her to run 100m sprint. The coach, however, knew that Rupal’s athletic built makes her a fit for 400m.
“Like anybody else with little knowledge about athletics, she wanted to try her hands on 100m and 200m. She did well in it in school as well by winning a few medals but her built and acceleration during a race convinced me she is the right fit for 400m,” says Vishal.
Getting into track and field wasn’t that easy for Rupal, who had to sit on a ‘hunger strike’ for three days to convince her father that she wants to run.
“Before finding a coach, I had to convince my father to allow me to run,” says Rupal. “He wasn’t sure if I should be taking up sports but I was not giving up easy and didn’t eat anything for two days before father finally gave in.”
Her first major breakthrough came at the 400m Nationals in New Delhi last year, when she clocked 53.73 seconds in the U-18 final to win the national title. The coaches and athletes, including foreign national coach Galina Bukharina, watching the race knew they are looking at a special talent as she defeated her nearest opponent by a 60m gap to the finish line. Statistics paid further homage to her showing as she was faster than the U-20 podium finishers in the competition.
Rupal, however, credit her familiarity with the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium track, the venue for the Nationals, for her success as for most of her early career JLN’s track was the only synthetic track she ran on.
“JLN was the only synthetic track I ran for the first time as my coach used to bring us by car to the stadium from Meerut to Delhi for training if a competition was nearing. Otherwise, we train only on grass tracks in Meerut. Maybe that’s why during Nationals I felt at home as my timing improved by close to two seconds that day,” Rupal recalls.
When asked about her thoughts on the Asian Games and the possibility of featuring in the women’s 400m relay team, Rupal says her priority still will be the individual gold.
“I think I will like to focus on the individual event at the Asian Games. I have nothing against relay events but I like the individual event more and want to go all the way for the gold medal,” she concludes.
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