Rupal Choudhary won her second World U20 Athletics Championships medal after winning bronze in the women’s 400m race at the Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero in Cali, Colombia.
The 17-year-old finished her races with a time of 51.85 seconds – a personal best. Great Britain’s Yemi Mary John won gold with a time of 51.50, followed by Kenyan runner Damaris Mutunga on 51.71.
Earlier in the competition, Choudhary was a part of the Indian team that set a new continental record, winning silver in the 4x400m mixed relay team event, clocking 3:17.76 min.
These achievements come just five years after she sat on a hunger strike to protest her father’s decision to not let her train in athletics, when she was a 12-year-old.
Growing up in Jainpur village, near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, the youngster was inspired by PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik’s achievements at the Rio 2016 Olympics. She asked her father to take her to the nearest athletics stadium – in Meerut – only for him to put it off with an excuse.
“After a year, I realised my father wasn’t planning on sending me to the stadium. So I decided to do a bhook hartal (hunger strike),” she said to Sportstar.
“At first he thought I’d give up but after three days he realised I was very serious. Only then he decided to take me. Mere zid ke samne unko tekna pada (he had to bend to my will).”
The youngster has taken great strides since emerging from the her village, and is now a multiple Junior World Championship medallist.
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