Swapna Burman- A unique girl with six toes on both feet earns Gold for the Nation!
TNT News | August 30, 2018
Despite excruciating pain, Swapna Burman has earned Gold for the Nation and this is her inspiring story.
In 2018, Barman, with a bandaged chin continued to compete in the heptathlon event at the ongoing Asian Games 2018 with severe toothache and excruciating pain as she'd landed her chin on her knee during one of the events.
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Going into the last of the seven event discipline that happens over two days, the 800m run, Barman topped the standings. In her final event, the 21 year old strategized her run perfectly, to bag a whopping 6026 points, personal best score, in the end to become the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games heptathlon gold.
But her story is not at all a bed of roses!
Belonging to a very humble background with her ailing father who is a rickshaw puller, a unique feature with Swapna is that she has six toes on both her feet that makes it extremely difficult for her to position herself accurately during her athletic events.
Soon after winning Gold at the Asian Games, Swapna confessed that she was very troubled by a terrible toothache and an injury. This is evident from the fact that she had a bandage on her right cheek during the event. Later, it was accredited to her love for chocolates.
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Her mother became very emotional after Swapna's victory and began praying to God repeatedly expressing her gratefulness.
It may be mentioned that this was the same event after which she had collapsed during the Asian Athletics Championship last year in Bhubaneswar.
No sooner did she win the event, wishes and congratulatory messages flooded social media handles narrating tales of her hardships and how she battled them to earn laurels.
Swapna Burman, 6 toes in both legs, no money for special shoes. Father a rickshaw puller, mother working in a tea garden, running for her country in the final event of the Heptathlon with a bandaged jaw. And winning it for India
This country certainly has no shortage of heroines pic.twitter.com/sZySHmGCdE— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) August 29, 2018
Truly, India has no dearth of talented sports women. All that is needed now is proper nurturing of these talents.
