How Parul Chaudhary became the first athlete to win a medal in both women's steeplechase and the 5,000m in the Asiad
Parul Chaudhary | 28
Athlete
Twenty-four hours after Parul Chaudhary won a silver in 3,000m steeplechase at the recent Asian Games in Hangzhou, she stood at the starting line of the 5000m, freed of the pressures of winning a medal. “Having won a medal already, I just wanted to enjoy my run,” says the 28-year-old. But barely 20m shy of the finish line, she tore ahead, overtook Japan’s Ririka Hironaka, the race leader, in a flash and won gold. And with those lung-busting final strides, Chaudhary earned herself a place in history, being the first athlete to win a medal in both women’s steeplechase and the 5,000m in the Asiad. She also became the first Indian woman to win a 5,000m gold in the Asian Games.
(This story appears in the 23 February, 2024 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)