Call it fate or sheer luck, but Parul Chaudhary won her first medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the Junior Nationals in 2008 despite never wanting to take part in the event. She was relaxing after winning a gold in the 1500m, during the event which was held at Ranchi, when her childhood coach VK Bajpai asked her to step up as there was a vacant slot for Uttar Pradesh.
The win proved to be her day of destiny and set the 28-year-old on the path that will take her to the Paris Olympics later this year.
After winning her solitary medal at a major international event – a 5000m bronze at the Doha Asian Championships in 2019, the athlete from Meerut found her best form on the track in 2023.
Chaudhary had missed the Tokyo Olympics ticket due to her low ranking but in May 2023, she set a national record of 15:10.35s in the 5000m race at the Track Festival in Walnut, California last May. She followed up that performance by clocking her personal best of 9:29.51s in her pet event, the 3000m steeplechase, at the Los Angeles Grand Prix on May 26. She also stood on top at the Track Night in New York with a timing of 9:41.88 sec after clocking 9:34.23 sec at the Inter-State Championships at Bhubaneshwar in June.
Things were clearly starting to click into gear and she claimed her second international medal, this time a gold in the 3000m steeplechase at the Asian Athletics Championship at Bangkok in July 2023. The difference maker was her training under Scott Simmons in Colorado Springs, US.
“The difference in Scott’s training was the addition of mileage in the run and even we did actual run twice in a week,” she said from Bengaluru where she is currently training at the Sports Authroity of India campus.
This increased her endurance and with stamina to spare, her timings started to improve and along with that, the results too.
She ran her personal best and a national record in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:15.31 at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, and the time there helped her secure a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
However, Chaudhary’s biggest success till date came at the Asian Games at Hongzhou when she finished with a gold and a silver medal. She showed grit and resilience to claim the women’s 5000m race. The odds were against her as she was at the second spot in the final seconds, but she managed to accelerate with 20-25 meters left to get past Japan’s Ririka Hironaka on the home stretch for the top position with a timing of 15:14.75.
In the 3000m women’s steeplechase, where she won a silver, Chaudhary clocked 9:27.63 seconds, which was more than nine seconds behind the reigning world champion from Bahrain, Winfred Mutile Yavi, who took the top podium finish in 9:18.28 seconds – a new Games record. The gap was huge but it gave her an understanding of where she truly stands at the world level.
The challenge now, though, is to find a higher level in 2024 because Chaudhary, like many other fellow Indian athletes, no longer wants to make up the numbers at major events. And every little thing adds up.
“I enjoy running the race according to the speed of my rivals and that helps me get success,” said Parul. “I am training hard to better my timing as I want to make my presence felt at the Paris Olympics.”
She added: “When I was given the Arjuna award a few days back, it inspired me to give my best at Paris as I have never seen this before in my life. My parents were there at Rashtrapati Bhawan, and it was very inspirational for them also.”
Chaudhary, who hails from a family of farmers, has always been a fighter on the track and she hopes that spirit helps her in Paris too.
“I learned to fight against odds and even in the early days of my running, I never regretted running barefoot as I knew that this hardship would help me one day,” she said.