Outside the field she remains reserved and shy, but on the field she opens up completely. Here we are talking about Assam’s young para athlete Anismita Konwar, who won the first gold and the only medal of these games in the long jump T37 category for Assam at the inaugural Khelo India Para Games currently underway in the national capital.
Anismita, the prodigious daughter of a mason from Dibrugarh, wants to shine on the track like Asian Games medallist sprinter Hima Das.
The 14-year-old, who usually competes in long jump, 100m, 200m and 400m, took to the track for the first time in 2021 and won gold in 200m and a silver medal in 100m at the Para Nationals held in Bengaluru, the same year. Now, Anismita has registered her name in the record books by winning the first ever gold medal for Assam in the Khelo India Para Games.
“Before Bengaluru, I played my first Nationals in 2021 in Odisha, where I won gold in long jump and a silver in 400 metres. After that, I won the gold medal in long jump in the Nationals held in Pune in 2023. My dream is to play for the country and I want to become like our Assam sprinter Hima Das,” the youngster said in a conversation with The Statesman.
Anismita came within touching distance of realizing her dreams of representing the country at the recently-held Para Asian Games in Hangzhou after she met the required qualification time of 17.89 seconds for the 100m event. However, the athlete did not complete 14 years during the qualification period, as mandated by the International Paralympic Committee.
Explaining further, Assam Paralympic Association General Secretary Rajib Dey said as per the rules of the International Paralympic Committee, it is mandatory that an athlete has to attain the age of 14 before participating in any international event, or to generate the FGMS number of the IPC license.
“Anismita completed 14 years on 29th August this year and that is why she could not go to China to participate in the 100 meter event. She had achieved the required qualification time of 17.89 seconds for this event by clocking 17.01 seconds, which also is her personal best,” Rajib said.
“Now she has become eligible for international events and we would like her to win a medal for the country and this talented athlete, who won the first gold medal for Assam in the India Para Games, has the ability to win a medal for the country,” he hopes.
Anismita lives in the hostel of Dibrugarh University and trains under the supervision of women’s coach Kunjulata Gogoi. Regarding the Para Games organized for the first time, the youngster said, “I enjoyed my outing here and the gold medal here will be a memorable one for me. I want to play as long as I can breathe.”
Anismita is now gearing up for the Para Nationals starting January 8 in Goa, where she will be participating in the 100m, 200m, 400 meters and long jump.
A former athlete-turned-coach, Rajib Dey had reached New Delhi with a team of five athletes and his team returned home with one gold, one silver and one bronze. He also credited his team’s success to the support from Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, wife of Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is the chief patron of the Assam Paralympic Association.
Among the other medallists from the state, Chiranjita Bharali won a silver in the para badminton SL4 event while Ababil Ali bagged a bronze in the men’s 100m T42 event.
Dey said that in the first Khelo India Para Games, there were no girls’ 100 and 200 meter events in T37 category, due to which Assam could not field athletes in those categories.