Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): The 17-year-old Himanshu from Chandigarh shone on the Judo mat in Khelo India Youth Games 2022. Yet the story of this golden boy is not as shiny as his performance is. His mother cooks food in various houses in Chandigarh; his sister had to leave sports and studies because of a lack of financial support. His alcoholic father left the family a long time ago; his mother had to borrow money to pay for his kits and sports expenditures.
Himanshu from Chandigarh won the gold medal over Delhi judoka Anurag Sagar, who had just won the bronze medal at the Asian Cadet Championship 2022 on Wednesday at the Sports Authority of India in Bhopal. Winning a gold here wasn’t easy for this judoka, as his tale of success is full of financial hurdles.
He said, "Achieving anything in life is hard when you come from an indigent family." My mother works as a cook in various houses, and my sister works at a call centre. We hardly have any money left after household spending; they even borrow money here and there for me, but they never let me think of any of that. All they say is, "Go and give your best."
Despite all the financial constraints, Himanshu isn’t playing for a government job; he is playing to create history by winning an Olympics gold medal for India in judo.
"Judoka Avtar Singh and Vijay Yadav are my idols." Judoka Himanshu described his idols as Indian Olympian Avtar Singh and Commonwealth medalist Vijay Yadav. He said, "These two judokas created history, especially Avtar Singh." I saw him compete once in Delhi, and while he lost due to some confusion, his attitude towards the other judoka was inspiring. When the coaches asked for a rematch, Avtar won, but still, his attitude towards the other judoka didn’t change.
After winning his first national gold, Himanshu was emotional. He said, "This is my first national gold medal, and I am emotional because my family has done a lot for me; this medal is for them. It was my coach’s birthday yesterday. I can’t afford to gift him anything, so I gifted this gold to him."
