Swapna Barman Biography 
Swapna Barman is an Indian athlete and sportswoman associated with heptathlon, a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. She was placed first in the Heptathlon at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships, and also bagged Gold medal at 2018 Asian games held at Jakarta. She is the first Indian to win gold medal in this event. Battled with extreme poverty and the physical disadvantage of 6 fingers in each leg, she also suffered immense tooth ache in the event to emerge as champion. Her story from struggle to success can inspire a lot of youngsters who love to take this sport.
Barman was born in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal in October 1996. She has some physical problems; unusual toes in both legs which give her pain. She was born into a very poor family, struggled with poverty since young, yet created a path of her own – truly inspiring. Her father was a rickshaw driver and mother worked in a tea estate. Following a stroke in 2013, her father got bedridden, adding things to worse. She has three siblings, and the family struggled a lot to meet with financial needs. Despite severe pain while running due to an extra toe in each leg, she ran so that she could financially support her family. She used her prize money for this purpose. She also couldn’t provide herself with nutritious food to support her professional career.
In 2016 she won a scholarship of 150,000 rupees, which was a huge aid for her struggling journey. She currently trains at the Sports Authority of India campus at Kolkata. In 2017 she earned gold in Heptathlon event at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar. There was no turning back after that, and her struggling days were over. After winning the first ever gold medal for India in Heptathlon event at Asian games, she created a benchmark for other athletes to follow her.
Published: August 30, 2018
Updated: August 30, 2018
