CHENNAI: For a mother, there is no better feeling that seeing her child enjoying each and every moment with her. For discus thrower Seema Kaliramna, who clinched bronze in the women’s final of the Commonwealth Games late on Thursday that moment came early on Friday, when she heard her three-year-old son Rudra's voice laden with excitement on the phone. He congratulated her on her medal and the two shared their excitement on the phone. “He's still young, so he doesn't fully understand everything yet, but hearing his voice after winning a medal made the moment even more special,” she told this daily from Glasgow.
Thursday night at the Scotstoun Stadium was indeed special. It was her debut medal and Seema, who was not sure whether to pursue the sport after giving birth, the result was the fruition of hard work and sacrifices she had to make staying away from family because of the sport. It is not easy for a mother.
In fact, since Seema and husband/coach Ravinder have been preparing for this event this year, their son was taken care of by his grandparents. It is not all sport as the thrower is pursuing her PhD as well and incidentally her thesis focuses on impact of imagery and self-talk on an athlete's performance. “I will begin data collection after this season,” she had said before the CWG.
As the sun descended down the west to give way for the winds, the discus throwers had to strategise to find the correct timing to release the discus flat with enough revs so that it floats a little longer in the air. Additionally, the cold wind also meant that the throwers took more time than usual to warm themselves. “The focus was just on adapting quickly and making the most of every throw,” the thrower, backed by JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS), said. However, she could only register two legal attempts, as she couldn’t take the discus past the launching ring. “But when you're trying to throw farther, sometimes those things happen. I didn't dwell on the fouls during the competition. The focus was on staying composed and making the next throw better. We'll go back, look at them, and keep improving,” she added.
Jamaica’s Samantha Hall clinched gold with 61.66m. Canada’s Julia Tunks finished second with 60.67m.
Coach Ravinder also believed the weather deterred the thrower. “Seema couldn't really feel the discus the way she normally does, which affects confidence and rhythm in the circle. Even then, her technique looked good. I genuinely felt a 62-metre throw was possible in these conditions. We'll take the positives from today and hopefully produce that kind of throw in the Asian Games,” he told this daily from Glasgow.
Coming on the back of consistent throws around the 58-59m throw, the CWG was the perfect platform for her to go past that mark in a field filled with up-and-coming throwers. While 58.65m is the only her second legal attempt but was enough to fetch her bronze. The Haryana thrower believes that she is getting closer to breaching 60 metres. “I think it's just about putting everything together on the day. The work is going in the right direction, and I'm improving with every competition. I know there is more distance in me, so I'll just keep working patiently and trust the process,” she said.
But a medal in the CWG is an important pit-stop in the journey towards her ultimate goal of participating in the Olympics. But as a mother, Seema could not have asked for a better day. As her son Rudra was asleep with his grandparents back home in Haryana, Seema got the biggest international prize in her career so far.
Seema is backed by IIS, with access to high-performance support to complement her training programme, as well as assistance with logistics, athlete services and other off-the-field requirements that enable her to focus entirely on performance.