Jakarta: As she climbed down the steps at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Swapna Barman, India’s newly-minted Asian Games heptathlon champion, handed over her gold medal to a bearded man and bent down to touch his feet.
“It’s quite heavy,” Subhas Sarkar said once she had moved on, weighing the piece of yellow metal in his palm before unzipping his rucksack and stuffing it inside.
It had taken seven rollercoaster years for the combined talent of the 21-year-old athlete and her 55-year-old mentor to forge India’s first heptathlon gold in the continental Games.
“Sir made a lot of sacrifice for me,” a respectful Swapna told this agency. “Just before the Games, he left his family to spend a month in Patiala to oversee my preparations at the training camp. He has so many trainees under him but I always got special attention.
“I guess I’ve given him a lot of stress too. He has developed diabetes and I’m partially responsible for that,” Swapna said.
Sarkar laughed off that suggestion but admitted it had not been easy mentoring his talented but temperamental protege.
“She (Swapna) has given me many sleepless nights for sure. I lost count how many fights we’ve had over the years,” he said with a gentle laugh.
He’s headmasterly and she’s headstrong and Sarkar reckons it’s a miracle that they stuck together. “She is extrovert, loves to eat out and likes to be on social media. My fear is these might distract her. Sparks naturally fly,” Sarkar informed with a wry smile.
A Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach posted in Kolkata, Sarkar discovered Swapna, then pursuing the high jump in 2011. It was after learning that Swapna had won the gold in a national inter-school meet that Sarkar asked her to move to the SAI hostel in Kolkata.
“She improved her personal best rapidly at the hostel, from 1.53 metres to 1.78m in just two years,” he recalled. “But then I realised she’d never grow tall enough to be a quality jumper.”
She is extrovert, loves to eat out and likes to be on social media. My fear is these might distract her. Sparks naturally fly
Subhas Sarkar
Once the realisation dawned on him that none of this was going to work, Sarkar made her switch to heptathlon in 2013.
Swapna responded well and within one year, she had qualified for the Incheon Asian Games, finishing fifth on her Asian Games debut.
“She always had that fire and part of my dream came true here. If she could stay healthy and add a bit more discipline, she could do even better. That is what I tried to imbibe in her,” Sarkar said.
“I understand a girl of her age would want to socialise and enjoy life. But athletes have a very short shelf-life. Mobile phone and social media can wait. Thankfully she understood that,” added Sarkar.