Sports

Guts, Grit And Glory

Mighty Olympians. Humble beginnings.

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Guts, Grit And Glory
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Jitu Rai
Shooting

Born in a peasant family in eastern Nepal, Rai joined the Indian army’s Gorkha regiment after his father’s death. Ranked No. 1 in the ISSF’s Munich World Cup 2015, he won gold medals at Commonwealth and Asian Games.

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Avtar Singh
Judo

India’s first judoka to qualify for the ­Olympics in 12 years, Singh’s government servant father from Gurdaspur, Punjab, had to unlock all his fixed deposits to send him to Turkey for a grand prix earlier this year.

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Deepika Kumari
Archery

Hailing from Ratu Chati, a small village located 15 km from Ranchi, the 22-year-old archer beat all odds to become world No. 5 in archery. She discovered her perfect aim while targeting mangoes on the trees in her village and found her big break when scouts from the Seraikela-Kharsawan Archery Academy spotted her during a visit to her school.

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Lalita Babar
Women’s 3000-metre steeplechase

As a child, Lalita used to run 4 km in her Mah­­­­arashtra village to fetch water. At 15, she earned for the first time by running. In 2015, she won gold in the Asian championships.

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Dutee Chand
women’s 100 metres

Born in an Orissa village, Dutee is the first Indian woman in 36 years to qualify for the Olympics 100-metre sprint. She also challenged the IAAF when it asked for a gender test as her testosterone levels were high.

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S.S. Chawrasia
Golf

Born in Calcutta, Chawrasia started his career in golf not as a player but as a caddy. He used to earn Rs 40 a day by lugging heavy golf bags at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. He turned professional in 1997 and is now ranked No. 2 in India.

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O.P. Jaisha
Marathon

The daughter of a daily-­wager in Kerala, Jaisha saw tough times at age five itself when her father met with an accident. She started running while chasing cows she had to herd and later took it up as a career to support her family. She is now one of the most well-known Indian athletes.

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Kavita Raut
Marathon

A forest ranger’s daughter from a village in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, Raut says her ­mantra of success was running 20 km to school every day. She was 13 when she made it to the district team for state meets and went on to win gold in the 12th South Asian games and represent India in many international events.

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