Swapna overcomes adversity to win heptathlon gold

Panchanan Barman, father of heptathlete Swapna Barman who won gold at the Asian Athletics Chamionships, is bedridden ever since she was a child.

But adversity has not robbed him of his dream. He wants his daughter Swapna, the promising athlete from Jalpaiguri in north Bengal, to conquer the world.

“We could never provide nutritious food as required by a sportswoman to our daughter. I wish she goes on to do well at the global level,” Panchanan said in a choked voice.

The sole breadwinner for the family, Panchanan was a rickshaw puller but a stroke several years ago made him bedridden.

Swapna, now 20, has seen her father confined to the bed ever since she was a child. “We never imagined our daughter will go this far,” Swapna’s mother Basana said.

“She is good at studies and sports.. I hope she goes further ahead. I hope she gets a job,” said Basana, who used to work in a tea estate but now does odd jobs to run the family.

Basana used to cycle Swapna to a club for practice when she was younger.

Swapna is the youngest of her two brothers and a sister. Her brother Atish said that he was overjoyed at Swapna’s triumph at the Asian Athletics Championships and burst crackers to celebrate.

Swapna had collapsed just after crossing the 800M race, the last of the seven events of heptathlon, during the championship on July 9 and she required medical attention.

She finished fourth in that event but still clinched the gold as she had already taken a substantial lead to emerge as the winner.

Till her higher secondary examination in 2014, Swapna studied in Kaliaganj Uttameshwar High School.

Swapna now stays at the SAI camp in Kolkata.