JAIPUR: Rajasthan's Bhawna Jat, India’s race walker created a new national record and won her seventh National Pedestrian Championship at the 7th National Open Race Walking Championships in Ranchi on Saturday.
The 32-year-old born to a poor farmer family from Kabra village in Rajsamand district has also confirmed the ticket for this year's Tokyo Olympics.
The athlete completed the event in 1 hour 29 minutes and 54 seconds within the required qualification mark of 1 hour 31 minute. Bhawna also improved her personal best time of 1:38:30 from the National Open Championship in October last year by more than eight minutes
"I am very happy after this achievement. I worked really hard for 3-4 months and I was confident that I would be able to break the record and qualify," said a delighted Bhawna talking to New Indian Express.
Her accomplishment is even more noteworthy as she hails from a place where even women's education is still a distant dream.
Along with this, a practice like 'Nata' system has been going on in this area for centuries. Her father, Shankarlal, is a Jat farmer and has only two bighas (acres) of land.
Bhavna has two elder brothers in her family. Prakash Jat, brother of Bhavna, made efforts to provide her with all kinds of facilities in supporting her passion.
Due to financial constraints, Bhavna had to leave college studies. She has been preparing for the last 10 years and had won the silver medal at the national level while studying in the village school.
Bhavna nurtured her talent in walking under the direction of physical education teacher, Hiralal Kumawat.
"I come from an area with a regressive mindset. Villagers used to constantly tell my father that he should not send me out of the house. But my family supported me and I want to give credit to my father, brother and the coach," she exclaimed.
She is confident that in the Tokyo Olympics in July she will bring a medal for the country. "I will try my best. Seeing the performance timings from last Olympics, I think I might have a good chance of winning a medal. I have started practising already," she added.
Currently, Bhavna is staying in Kolkata and doing a without pay job in the Railways.
Bhavna's journey to the Olympics will inspire all the girls' of Rajasthan who are struggling with scarcity to move forward.