Sports
Barefooted athlete wins a medal
The 18-year-old Banke athlete was the last one to carry the batton for Province 5 in the event won by the Army club in a new national record time. She made it to the National Games by winning the provincial tournament in the event, also barefooted.Undeterred by the mid-day scorching heat, Kamala Jaisi ran with passion at the synthetic track at the Beljhundi Stadium to win the women’s 4x400m bronze medal during the eight National Games on Sunday.
The 18-year-old Banke athlete was the last one to carry the batton for Province 5 in the event won by the Army club in a new national record time. She made it to the National Games by winning the provincial tournament in the event, also barefooted.
“I am not used to running wearing shoes (spike). I feel discomfort wearing shoes while running. So, I opted to go with barefoot as I don’t have proper running spikes,” said Jaisi. Contrary to the international practice, running barefoot is allowed at domestic events in Nepal. Profession spikes are compulsory for any athlete competing at international events.
It is not the first time that the 11-grader has competed with bare foots. She also ran 1,500m race barefooted during the NSC Championship last year in Itahari where she finished in fourth place. Jaisi, however, ran the 5,000m race in Itahari wearing shoes but had to quit midway through the race after feeling discomfort.
“One of the reasons I opted to go barefoot was also the bitter experience that I had in Itahari. I still remember quitting the 5,000m race midway due to the discomfort caused by the shoes,” said Jaisi. “It was really testing experience though running in the heated synthetic track.”
Like everyone else Jaisi aspires to be a top athlete and hopes she would realize her dream with hard work and dedication. “Now I am preparing myself to train wearing spikes. It would be difficult but I have no choice,” she said. She teamed up with Aruna Rijal, Purnima Khadka and Puja Chaudhary to claim bronze. Krishna Chaudhary, Tulasa Khatri, Sangita Meche and Saraswoti Bhattarai of Army won gold in 4:02.5.