World U20-bound Tahura Khatun targets relay gold, dreams of Olympic title

West Bengal's first athlete to qualify for the World Under-20 Athletics Championships, Tahura Khatun, is targeting gold in the mixed 4x400m relay in Oregon. The 19-year-old also dreams of becoming an Olympic champion and inspiring more youngsters to take up athletics

Hyderabad: Having created history by becoming the first athlete from West Bengal to qualify for the World Under-20 Athletics Championships to be held in Oregon, USA, Tahura Khatun has already set her sights on bigger things.

The immediate goal is, of course, winning gold in the mixed 4×400 metres relay at Oregon, but her biggest dream is achieving the holy grail of world sports – becoming an Olympic champion.

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“My ultimate goal is to win gold at the Olympics. For now, I am totally focused on the World Under-20 Athletics Championships. I will compete in the mixed 4x400m relay, which will require a collective effort from the entire team in order to win a medal,” he said.

“However, I will put in my best effort and will do my best to make the country proud,” Tahura informed SAI Media on the eve of her departure for what will be the biggest event of her career so far.

Tahura, who hones her skills under the watchful eyes of chief coach Sanjoy Ghosh and assistant coach Jaspal Singh Pannu at Sports Authority of India (SAI), Eastern Centre, has already etched her name in the history books by winning gold in the Women’s 4x400m relay at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships last month, which earned her qualification for the world meet.

“There have been a lot of changes in my life after my success at the Asian U20 event. The expectations are greater now. However, I am in good form now and have won gold at the recent state meet, where I created a new meet record. I am aiming to carry this form into the World U20,” she asserted.

Hailing from the remote Phulbari village in Bhangar, South 24 Parganas, the 19-year-old had started her foray into the world of sports by playing football and cricket with the local boys before venturing into athletics.

The teenager credited her coaches at SAI, Eastern Centre for helping her to realise her full potential.

“I have been training at SAI for the last five years and I owe all my achievements to the coaches and support staff over here. They look after all my requirements including training, diet etc,” the athlete said.

“When I started my journey in athletics, I had faced a lot of difficulties since my family was finding it tough to fund my training. But after I was selected to train at SAI, my life has changed and I hope to achieve greater glory under the guidance of my SAI coaches Sanjoy sir and Jaspal sir,” she added.

“I hope my achievements will inspire the youth of West Bengal to take up athletics in bigger numbers.”

As she stands on the threshold of the biggest competition of her career, there is one thing that rankles Tahura.

“When I returned after the Asian Under-20, there was no one to receive me at the airport, ” she rued.

“I aim to change that by winning medals at the world level.”

Amen to that.