Ram Baboo’s Incredible Journey From Daily Wage Laborer to Asian Games 2023 Medalist Ram Baboo’s journey from poverty to glory as an Asian Games bronze medalist race walker is a remarkable story of a strong-willed guy shaping his own destiny.
Because of his triumph at the Asian Games, there is a joyful spirit across the town and area. However, Rambabu has struggled a lot to reach here, he said.
He needed better training to advance in his career, but it was very difficult for the family to afford the academy. Despite all the difficulties, Rambabu’s father, Chhotalal, decided to enroll him in the academy and met the expenses by working as a laborer. ‘ To fulfill his son’s dream, Devi himself worked in the nearby Madhupur market, he said. I have sold khoya (milk mawa).
We don’t have any agricultural land, so my husband works as a farm laborer,” she went on to say.
Pooja and Kiran, his two elder sisters, are married, while Suman, his younger sister, is a first-year engineering student at Prayagraj. Babu said he would shift to the 20km race walk next season as the mixed team event is unpredictable as the combined time of a country’s male and female competitors is taken into account for medals.
You never know, my colleague (a female race walker) may not be able to perform well on a particular day; she may be sick but can still participate; or she may be disqualified during the competition. All this is not in my hands.
So, I am shifting to the 20-kilometer event next year. Hangzhou 2023 Asian
Fortunately, we were able to find work through the MNREGA scheme, and I assisted my father in digging pits for road construction work.”A person would get Rs 300 to Rs 400 per day, depending on the quantity of work,” he said.
After working for one and a half months under the MNREGA scheme, Babu’s mind became restless, and he again went to Bhopal. Hangzhou 2023 Asian
In February 2021, he won a silver medal in the 50-kilometer race walk at the National Race Walk Championships, paving the way for his admission to the Army Sports Coach Basant Rana-assisted Institute in Pune.
After World Athletics decided to remove the 50km event from its program, Babu shifted to the 35km event and won gold at the National Open Championships in September 2021, and he was invited to the national camp in Bengaluru a few months later.
After winning gold in the 35 km at the National Games last year with a national record time, Babu got a job in the army and is now a havildar.
At the time, I was 11 months older than the eligibility age, but I was given a reprieve after winning gold in the National Games.” I am currently on probation until next month, and I am getting around Rs 10,000, which is the basic salary.
After this, I will get my full salary and will be able to take care of my parents properly. Rambabu, a resident of Bhairava Gandhi in Sonbhadra’s Bahuara Gram Panchayat district, belongs to a very poor family. Hangzhou 2023 Asian
His mother, Meena Devi, told PTI that her son had had a desire to achieve something since childhood.
I used to get Rs 3000 per month to work as a waiter, but they made me work till midnight and even till 1 a.m. I had to wake up at 4 in the morning to train at the stadium. It was very difficult for me. People did not respect me and mistreated me. So I left Varanasi and returned home.” In 2019, Babu was successful in convincing a coach at the Bhopal SAI Center to take him under his wing. He then competed at the National Race Walk Championships in February 2020, just before the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. I participated in the 50 km event and stood fourth.
During the lockdown, Bhopal SAI Center was closed, and Babu returned home. His parents were finding it difficult to find work to survive. Hangzhou 2023 Asian
