For UP's champion girls, a bed of thorns before crown of gold at Asian Games

Separated by barely 15km, two villages in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh erupted in celebration as two of its daughters – Parul Chaudhary from Iklauta village and Annu Rani of Bahadurpur village – clinched gold in the women’s 5,000m race and javelin throw events, respectively, in the ongoing Asian Games in China on October 3.Soon after their wins, Rani and Chaudhary were both congratulated by PM Narendra Modi. Rani touched 62.92m, her season's best throw, and topped the chart to win the country its 15th gold. Her best throw of the evening came in her fourth attempt. Another Gold in Athletics!

Extremely proud of @Annu_Javelin for her outstanding performance in the Women's Javelin event at the Asian Games.

This Gold Medal has made India proud. May she keep aiming high and inspiring us all! pic.twitter.com/dOLEDV6Ok3

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 3, 2023 Proud of Parul Chaudhary for winning the Gold Medal in Women’s 5000m event.

Hers was a performance that was truly awe inspiring. May she keep soaring high and sprinting towards success. pic.twitter.com/hmgw1MqnaC

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 3, 2023 But it wasn't always like this for both athletes. What makes the public celebration sweet for their families is that growing up both faced stiff resistance in their native hamlets from relatives and village elders who frowned upon women taking to 'manly sports'. Now, though, the people 'think differently' and are even encouraging of women in sports."Annu [Rani] has changed the way people think in these parts," her father Amarpal Singh said on Wednesday, the day after her gold medal win. “It wasn’t easy when she decided to take up javelin. People were incredulous at first. Many would rail against her for entering a field which is considered a male domain. But we stood by her. I would often accompany her for training.” medium104177608Rani, 31, was introduced to athletics by her brother Upendra Singh in 2009 but her sports instructor saw her potential in javelin and encouraged her to switch. “She didn’t leave any stone unturned to prove her coach right. When not in the stadium, she would practice with sugarcane stalks on her family farm, drawing ridicule from the villagers. But she didn’t pay any heed,” her brother said.Aarzu Nehra, the only national javelin player from Rani’s village who is following in her footsteps, told TOI , “I wasn’t aware of javelin as a sport until I saw Annu didi play. With her inspiration, I bagged gold and silver at the state level and bronze in the nationals.”Nehra added, “Today the entire village is basking in her glory but in the initial days no one even cared how she had been managing her preparation. Instead, she was criticised.”It was a similar story with Chaudhary, 28, who surged past Japan's Ririka Hironaka to win India's first gold medal in women's 5,000m at the Asian Games on Tuesday. Chaudhary was sixth midway through the race and then pulled ahead getting past one competitor at a time and finally surged past the Japanese opponent in the last 10m to take the gold medal in a timing of 15:14.75. The athlete had bagged a silver medal in the women's 3,000m race on Monday. medium104177416Prior to reaching here, Chaudhary had faced such hard times in the village that she trained secretly and thought of quitting numerous times.“There were taunts all the time. I had to sever all social relations in the neighbourhood. It was difficult for me to take Parul out for practice sessions in the field, to keep her motivated. But it all paid off. Today my daughter is an icon,” said her mother, Rajesh Devi.Chaudhary's coach Gaurav Tyagi told TOI, “Often, Parul used to come to the stadium feeling miserable. Upon asking, she would always say "my villagers demoralise me". I motivated her by saying that one day she would walk past these same villagers wearing gold around her neck. And the day has come.”There were sacrifices to be made along the way. Her brother Rahul, a volleyball player, had to abandon his dream of becoming a national player when Chaudhary began bringing home medals. “My parents could not afford to train both their children so I stepped aside. But I have no regrets,” Rahul said. medium104177511To her father, Krishanpal Chaudhary, “all of this seems like a dream”. “I have received congratulations from chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I have no words to express my happiness,” he said.