Asian Games: Meerut girls Parul Chaudhary, Annu Rani strike 2 gold; count 15, one short of 2018 record

Rohit Mahajan in Hangzhou

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Parul Chaudhary, breathless and with a face flushed red, beads of sweat trickling down her face and arms and legs, just could not stop grinning.

She had reason to be happy — she had produced a stunning kick in the final 20-odd metres of the race to overtake Japan’s Ririka Hironaka and take the 5,000m gold in 15 minutes, 14.75 seconds.

The first thing she said to the media, minutes later, was pure, unadulterated truth about sport, and the social mobility it provides people from the less-advantaged sections of society: “In my mind, in the final metres of the race, this thought was foremost — that I had to become a DSP! Our UP Police is the only one… If you win a gold medal, then straightaway they make you a DSP!”

For the 28-year-old from Meerut, this is a huge leap in terms of status and salary and stability — from ticket-checker in the Railways to the officer grade in police, it’s a significant jump across class barriers.

Parul had had a bad night on Monday, having slept only three hours — she had been tired and disappointed after finishing second and winning ‘only’ a silver in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase. “I was tired, and I could not sleep at night… I slept only three hours,” she said. “I was thinking — ‘I didn’t get a gold in steeplechase, so I must fight hard in 5,000 for gold’.” She was given the medal, she said, by God. “Bhagwan gave it to me, because I had worked very hard for this,” she said.

For most of the race, Parul had been content with merely hanging with the lead pack, in fourth position; she dropped to sixth in the eighth lap before surging to third in the 10th. In the 11th, she pushed hard to get to second, behind Ririka. In the final lap, Ririka accelerated, but she had a dogged pursuer in Parul; just about 20 metres short of the finish line, Ririka saw a blur of blue rush past her — but she had completely run out of steam, ending up 0.59s behind Parul.

India’s second gold of the day, which brought the overall gold count to 15, was still more surprising — Annu Rani, the javelin-thrower, had been so unhappy with her form this year that she had sunk into depression. “The whole year, I just could not throw well. It had been a bad year,” said Annu, also from Meerut. ‘Bad’ is an understatement — she has been quite terrible all year, and she knew it.

She owns the national record, 63.82m, which she set last year; her form nosedived this year, when she could only dream 60m; the best had been 59.24m, in Ranchi in May. But then everything went haywire. She says she was throwing well, but the results were terrible. “I was doing so badly, at one point in time, I thought I’d give it up… When I threw to 52m,” said Annu, 31. That was in Germany early last month, when she recorded 52.54m.

Just over a month on, on a cool night here, in front of a crowd that cheers every athlete except those from India, Annu finally hit 60m — two times! — and secured gold with the night’s best of 62.92m. Sri Lanka’s Nadeesha Dilhan led briefly with 61.57m, but Annu’s fourth throw sealed the gold.

Annu, who had been employed with the Indian Railways as an officer, also spoke about her motivations. “My family and the country had high hopes of me. Jahan des ka naam hota hai, wahan to mar mit jaate hain… (when it comes to the country’s honour, I’m ready to go to any length),” said Annu. This perspective is in sharp contrast with Parul’s, though primarily it’s her ‘depression’ and fear of failure that drove her.

Missed decathlon gold

Tejaswin Shankar won silver in the men’s decathlon, having earlier raised visions of gold after he led the field with three events remaining.

Muhammed Afsal (men’s 800m), Praveen Chitravel (men’s triple jump) and Vithya Ramraj (women’s 400m hurdles) won bronze medals on the day.

Pakistan javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, expected to challenge Indian star Neeraj Chopra on Wednesday night, pulled out of the event due to a knee injury.