Assam Teen Makes Come Back After Accident, Wins Road Cycling Gold

Gongutri Bordoloi, a 17-year-old from Assam has won gold in the Girls U21 Individual Road Race (60KM) with an impressive timing of 2:11:52.16 at Khelo India Youth Games 2020 on Monday. She hails from Naogaon. Bordoloi overcame a major road accident, severe injuries and returned to the game after a year of painful recovery.

Key takeaways:

• Gongutri Bordoloi from Assam won gold at KIYG 2020 in the Girls U21 Individual Road Race (60KM) with a timing of 2:11:52.16.
• 17-year-old Gongutri overcame a major road accident, severe injuries and returned to the game after a year
• She gave Assam its second gold at KIYG 2020 after another teenager Pooja Basumatary from the state claimed a gold medal in Girl’s Under-17 57 kg category in the judo event.

Five years back, the cyclist suffered a road accident while training and it had affected her badly. After the accident, Gongutri was left with a broken collarbone and multiple lacerations, injuries due to which she couldn't cycle for over a year. “When she saw my state, my mother put her foot down, and told me to give up the sport,” the 17-year-old said. "But my father, a policeman, stood by my side, fought for me and made me cling on to my passion when I could have been down and almost out," she added, kheloindia.gov.in reported. Gongutri had had a stellar show during the Road Nationals in Bikaner last year. She clinched the Silver medal at that event.

My dad is a fighter, my inspiration. He said if at all I have to quit it has to be on my terms, not because I had an injury. - Gongutri Bordoloi

The gold medallist from Assam is back now and has no intention of quit. She gave Assam its second gold at KIYG 2020 after another teenager Pooja Basumatary from the state claimed a gold medal in Girl’s Under-17 57 kg category in the judo event on January 12.

Also Read: Veerjeet Kaur Once Lifted Sacks Of Wheat, Now Lifts Weightlifting Gold

Road to win the gold

“I was a sprint cyclist earlier, but the injuries mean that I can’t burst through quickly now,” Gongutri said sharing her journey with PTI, “I switched over to the pursuit and the road recently. Even today I was nervous, because I didn’t want to crash. I saw the commotion behind me and ensured I wasn’t near it,” she added.

Fellow Assamese cyclist Chayanika Gogoi also won the Bronze medal at the Girls U21 road race at KIYG 2020. She finished just 00:00.148. Both Gogoi and Bordoloi train at the SAI Centre in Delhi. They were selected for the national camp in 2018 and credit the good facilities for their spectacular outing at KIYG.

Also Read: Meet Nadiya Nighat, Kashmir’s First Female Football Coach

“Now that we have two girls on the podium, and many more prospects on the track, I am confident we will get much more resources and will be a force to reckon with nationally,” Jivan Bora, the cycling head coach at the Directorate of Sport, Assam said.

Bordoloi aims to win medals at international events for her country now.

Feature Image Credit: The Guwahati Times

Read More Stories By Ria Das