Navjeet Kaur Dhillon rose into the limelight when she became only the second Indian to win a medal in the World Junior Championship. She has not looked back since then.
The Amritsar-based athlete is the next big thing in discus throw.
Athletics is a discipline in which India has no medals in Olympics.
'How can athletes win medals if there aren't proper facilities. We are very disproportionate with the facilities that are available,' says the 21-year-old who is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Khalsa College For Women Amritsar.
Not long ago, she went to Russia for a three-month training. She acquired very good training in Russia and trained over for the upcoming events to do something big.
'I spent everything from flight tickets to my training kits on my own money. The kits and supplements were all bore by me,' says a disappointed Navjeet.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, she adds, ‘The government promised to help but I've got no support from them till date. I am the only one who supported me till here.’
No support from Punjab government
In Punjab, conditions are far from ideal for Navjeet who turned 21 this year.
She says, 'Our government doesn't care. Look at Haryana. The athletes there get so much support from the government. They have good centres, facilities, and even better equipment.'
Navjeet adds, 'The federation focusses more on senior players. Why do they turn a blind eye to the career of the juniors? They forget we are the ones who will represent India in the coming years.'
‘I don’t want to stop’
She won a bronze in the 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games in London with a throw of 45.27m and followed that achievement by breaking the national record for both shot put and discus throw in 2013 throwing a noteworthy 53.97m.
When Dhillon was 19, she won the silver in the discus throw (53.66m) at the 2014 Asian Junior Championships at Taipei. That year she threw the discus to a scintillating 56.36 metres at the IAAF World Junior Championship and clinched a bronze.
'Delhi will be a good test for me to see where I am now. My main goal is the 2017 World Championship (London) but the Federation Cup next month is also very important. I will do everything possible to do well.'
'I don't want to stop. I want to keep on improving.'
There's no reason why she should stop. In a year, with a bit of luck, she could be someone special.
‘No one came forward to support me’
The lack of a proper sponsor is hampering her talent. Lack of it has stemmed her growth. Even after winning medals for India, she failed to find any private or corporate sponsors for her training.
‘I was looking for sponsors for a long time. No one came forward to support me,’ says Navjeet.
Finally, India For Sports believed in me when very few people did. I approached them seeking for sponsors and they were the ones to believe in me. Currently, they are running a crowd-funding campaign.
She adds, 'Right after their commitment, I am getting better and better in training.'
Many champions like Navjeet are out there waiting for help. Let's accept the fact, the roots of shot put and discuss throw are weak in India.
‘Indian Athletics League should start soon’
There is more to India than just cricket. The problem is we reward foreign players in our country but fail to reward major achievements
'There should be leagues in India like IPL. Everything is possible. Let's focus on athletics as well like we are doing for kabaddi and boxing,' says Navjeet.
She is making new strides with every passing day. She says, 'To qualify for the Olympics one has to hit 61m, something which is not beyond me. But I am too young. Tokyo 2020 is my target.'
Are we doing enough to respect our athletes? Or are we caught up with the mainstream?
It is high time we start recognizing athletes apart from IPL.
How about crediting athletes from sports which are a true test to the human limits?
Let's hope she wins more medals for India and make us proud. We would certainly like to see more Navjeets emerging in athletics and doing wonders.
For sure, there is a spark in Navjeet Kaur Dhillon.
