KOCHI: Till Sunday, when she penned a new national mark in 20 km race-walk in the National Racewalking Championship in New Delhi, Soumya Baby was virtually an unknown entity. Though the diminutive 27-year-old Kerala athlete had won a few national events in the last two seasons, none of those could win her attention: Partly due to lacklustre timing and partly due to the fact that her event was not the most high-profile one, she always remained in the fringes. In a sport like athletics where even acclaimed champs have to peddle their rags-to-riches stories to remain discernible, Soumya couldn’t have asked for more.
However, she chose to remain steadfast and stayed focussed on ironing out the creases in her performance. She had a willpower moulded out of iron, a trait that had caught the attention of the scouts at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in New Delhi five summers ago.The year was 2013. Harinder Tyagi, deputy commandant of CRPF and a veteran athletics coach, spotted a thin female of almost 22 years, who had finished second in a selection trial. As per norms, the CRPF usually recruits only the athlete who finished first. But in Soumya’s case, the rule was broken.
“Though she finished second, her technique was impressive. Her willpower and fighting spirit stood apart. I came to know that she was from a poor family and never had proper diet befitting a racewalker. Then itself, I decided we have to take this girl in. She is going to be an asset,” Tyagi recollected his first meeting with the athlete, who, on Sunday, went on to beat the much-fancied Khushbir Kaur en route setting a new record of 1:31.28.
Soumya trained under Tyagi before she was inducted into the national camp in 2017. Tyagi was sure Soumya would go onto making a name for herself. “She had the technique,” he said. “She is lightly built, and her stride length is good. But it’s her frequency that makes her unique,” he said.Currently under Russian coach Alexander Artsybashev in the camp, Soumya grew in strength. Her core strength improved. She attributed strength training for shaving off almost 10 minutes from her previous best. However, Soumya couldn’t believe that she had slain Kaur and set a record until the last lap.
“For the last two years I’ve been training well, but results were not coming. I was a tad sad for that. So when I came here, I was not expecting a big win. But it happened and I am happy,” she said.Born into a poor family which lived on her father’s income from manual labour, life has never been cosy for her. But now, after being included in the Commonwealth Games squad, Soumya foresees brighter times ahead.
shan.as@newindianexpress.com