Fighting odds, farmer’s daughter bags gold in hammer throw

Lucknow: Tanya Chaudhary of Baghpat started her journey in the field of sports as a sprinter but later switched to hammer throw, and performing equally well, she has been breaking records and winning medals in various championships.Adding another feather to her cap, Tanya (19) clinched gold in hammer throw women’s category (60.61 metres) during the ongoing Khelo India University Games, in Lucknow.“The credit for my success goes to my father. He never lets me and my brother work in the fields and asks us to win medals for the country. He used to take me and my brother for a morning walk where we developed the hobby of running. I started participating in district-level events and won a bronze medal in 200 metre race in state championship in 2018,” she said.She said that all sports activities stopped during coronavirus pandemic. “I didn’t know what to do. Later, I met coach Satendra Yadav who asked me to take up hammer throw,” she said. “I first won a bronze in Under-18 category in junior national (2021) in Guwahati. Then I won a silver medal in Under-20 category of junior national (2021) in Punjab. I created national record of 57.09 metres in junior category of U-20. In 2022, I created new record of 58.3 metres in Under-20 category,” Tanya said.“In the senior category of Federation Cup, I won a gold medal beating national record holder Sarita Singh. I also won a gold in the All India University Games (62.62 metres).Tanya is pursuing BA (final year) from Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan Degree College which is affiliated to the Chaudhary Charan Singh University. “I am carrying out practice in Baleni (Baghpat) under my coach Sachin Yadav,” she said.Preeti Sharawat, who is also from Baleni in Baghpat, won silver medal. She represents Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University.