Rourkela Girl Pedals Her Way To Success

Bhubaneswar: Swasti Singh brought laurels to Odisha by bagging the bronze at the 23rd National Rad Cycling Championship 2018.

The 16-year-old from Rourkela won the medal in the individual 15 km time trial event on November 21.

“Someone from Odisha has achieved this feat after 37 years. She could have done much better but she reached Kurukshetra in the morning of November 21 from Delhi where she was taking part in a national camp. Swati travelled all the way in a car and reached the venue around noon. She had little time to rest,” the joint secretary of Odisha Cycling Association, Debasish Mohapatra, who was with the team at Kurukshetra, told The Telegraph.

Swasti is being looked upon as a huge cycling talent in Odisha and was spotted by Rourkela Steel Plant’s sports wing in 2015. “Her development in cycling has been phenomenal. She was selected from 58 participants. In 2015, she won gold in four events in senior age groups in the state championship. Soon, she came to the notice of national selectors,” said her first coach Susil Das.

It’s her relentless pursuit of excellence that took her to this level at this young age, he added.

In September, she had won a gold in the 5th Asian Cup Track Cycling in Delhi.

Swasti is a trainee at the Sports Authority of India’s National Cycling Academy.

Speaking from Kurukshetr after the event, she said she was happy with her performance. “I wish to win more trophies for my country and state in international competitions,” she added.