DEHRADUN: Paramjeet Singh Bisht, 23, resident of little-known Khalla village near Gopeshwar town of Chamoli district in Uttarakhand, will represent the country in the men’s 20km race walk on Aug 1 at the ongoing Paris Olympics. However, his journey to be part of the Indian contingent was never easy.
Speaking to TOI over phone just before leaving for France, he recalled that while practising on the narrow roads near his village, he was subjected to constant ridicule by his neighbours and friends for walking in a “funny style” – as walking in this sporting category requires a distinctive way of movement.
“They would often laugh at me and say ‘yeh kya matak matak ke chal raha hai’ as they were not aware that it is a globally-recognised sport. To avoid contact with villagers while training, I used to practise only after ensuring there was no one around,” said Bisht, who claims he ‘accidentally’ stepped into the sport while studying in class 9. His PT teacher, Gopal Singh Bisht, asked him to enrol in the walk event in the school’s annual sports day as it had the least number of participants.
“Gopal sir noticed my talent and asked me to pursue it. Listening to him, I took it up and went on to win medals in junior and senior nationals while participating in international events,” added Bisht.
The Uttarakhand hill youth is the current national record holder in U-17 and U-19 in 5km walk held by School Games Federation of India. In 2022, he joined the Navy as a senior secondary recruit under sports quota.
Bisht’s school coach, Gopal Singh, told TOI on Monday: “It is the dream of every athlete to represent his country in the Olympics and Bisht achieved it with sheer hard work and dedication. Hailing from a tiny village and then going on to shine at the sport’s biggest stage is not easy.” His father, Jagat Singh Bisht, who runs a village grocery shop, said he is glad his son’s decision to “take up the sport over higher education paid off”.
Speaking to TOI over phone just before leaving for France, he recalled that while practising on the narrow roads near his village, he was subjected to constant ridicule by his neighbours and friends for walking in a “funny style” – as walking in this sporting category requires a distinctive way of movement.
“They would often laugh at me and say ‘yeh kya matak matak ke chal raha hai’ as they were not aware that it is a globally-recognised sport. To avoid contact with villagers while training, I used to practise only after ensuring there was no one around,” said Bisht, who claims he ‘accidentally’ stepped into the sport while studying in class 9. His PT teacher, Gopal Singh Bisht, asked him to enrol in the walk event in the school’s annual sports day as it had the least number of participants.
“Gopal sir noticed my talent and asked me to pursue it. Listening to him, I took it up and went on to win medals in junior and senior nationals while participating in international events,” added Bisht.
The Uttarakhand hill youth is the current national record holder in U-17 and U-19 in 5km walk held by School Games Federation of India. In 2022, he joined the Navy as a senior secondary recruit under sports quota.
Bisht’s school coach, Gopal Singh, told TOI on Monday: “It is the dream of every athlete to represent his country in the Olympics and Bisht achieved it with sheer hard work and dedication. Hailing from a tiny village and then going on to shine at the sport’s biggest stage is not easy.” His father, Jagat Singh Bisht, who runs a village grocery shop, said he is glad his son’s decision to “take up the sport over higher education paid off”.