How did Parul Chaudhary qualify for Paris Olympics 2024
In 2023, a 28-year-old athlete from Uttar Pradesh stunned the world when she secured a gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games. From being a barefoot runner during her school days to conquering Asia to creating a certain 'record' in Asian Games history, Parul Chaudhary has come a long way.
Parul Chaudhary and 2023 is better than a Victorian-age love story. What did she not achieve in that year? Her heroics in the Asian Games is mentioned above but to add a bit more to that, she won both gold and silver in the steeplechase event.
Initially, she won gold in the 5000m category, and then when the 3000m event came calling, Chaudhary, who just wanted to enjoy the run, ended up winning silver and surprising Asia. The 'record' which is mentioned above, is this! She became the first athlete, irrespective of nationality to win medals at both the 3000m steeplechase and 5000m event.
However, Parul Chaudhary had achieved her Paris Olympics qualification before the Asian Games itself. In August 2023, she participated at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest and notched a time of 9:15:31, which eventually became her personal best and also a national record. This feat helped Chaudhary to secure a spot in the upcoming Summer Games.
Another achievement in 2023 saw the 29-year-old win gold in the Asian Athletics Championship in Bangkok. Moreover, she also featured in Forbes' India 30 Under 30 2024 list, a feat to reckon.
Parul Chaudhary - A journey of determination and hard work
However, it was never a smooth journey for Chaudhary. While she often shined at the national-level competitions, failure embraced her at international events. Two examples to elaborate on this - Parul Chaudhary failed to qualify for the Asian Games in 2018, and then again for the Tokyo Olympics 2018.
Since 2021, she has been training under Jaiveer Singh, the Haryana athletics coach, and himself a former international athlete. Singh, in an interview with Forbes, mentioned how Chaudhary used to often train harder compared to the male athletes to hone her techniques and that is what has given her the results needed to achieve qualification for the Paris Olympics.