How Indian racewalker Bhawna Jat kept her racewalking dream on course

Bhawna Jat had to quit college because of financial struggles, had to practice in the wee hours of the morning to avoid judgmental stares of elders in the village and competed barefoot early on in her career. But she always made sure her racewalking dream stayed on course.

The 25-year-old is now on the brink of her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

She was the first Indian female racewalker to book an Olympic berth this time around as she made the qualifying mark at the 2020 Indian Racewalking Championships. Jat clocked 1:29:54 in the 20km women’s racewalking event, a national record at the time, in Ranchi last February, well under the Tokyo qualifying mark of 1:31.

It was quite a milestone for the woman who had started her journey in the village of Kabra, in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district. Born in a farmer family, Jat was the youngest of three children.

She was guided into the sport by a physical education teacher and started training initially on 200m dirt tracks. Though her family lived in a mud house and just about managed to eat two meals a day, her father and elder brother supported her in whatever way they could.

The people in her village, especially the elders, weren’t very accepting of her athletic ambition. They taunted her for pursuing a sport, and even worse wearing shorts during training.

“Our village elders asked us not to participate as it looked shameful,” she had told Olympics.com in an earlier interview. “So we practiced, during the night or early mornings at 3am.”

Later, she had to drop out of college because her family was struggling financially. There was some relief for Jat as she was employed by the Indian Railways in 2016.

Jat, though, was never a breakout talent and it wasn’t till she qualified for the Olympics that she was invited to the Indian national camp. In fact, she had to take leave, and forgo pay, to train for the 2020 National Racewalking Championships.

Her struggle was exacerbated by the fact that she had taken a loan of Rs 7 lakh to treat her brother’s illness.

“Even as I was training for the nationals, I was also thinking how to pay back the interest of Rs 16,000 each month," she told ESPN in February, 2020. "On top of that I also had to pay for my own training equipment and boarding. If I didn't win this competition and qualify for the Olympics, I don't know what I would have done.”

With losing not an option, Jat shaved off more than eight minutes off her personal best till to storm to victory. She earned a place in the national camp the hard way and hopes that the more fine-tuned training will help her make a mark in Tokyo.

When will Bhawna Jat be seen in action?

Bhawna Jat will compete in the 20km women's racewalk on Friday, August 6.