At an age when most Indian parents prepare their daughters, the basics of cooking and taking up domestic responsibilities, somewhere in Meerut, father, Rajendra Singh and mother, Satesh Chaudhary were moulding young Garima to take up sports and excel in a martial art. The result of this showed in Junior Asian Judo Championship in 2007 where she bagged the gold. This was followed by a Silver and a Bronze in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Her parents saw her fighting with her friends and beating them up as a young kid and that is when it struck them to push her into this sport.
After consistent performances at the world level, especially at World Cup in Warsaw and Asian Championship in Tashkent, Garima qualified for Olympics 2012. "It is a dream come true for me but it doesn't stop here. Now my aim is to return home with an Olympic medal" said the lone women judoka.
"The 24 judokas competing in my weight are more or less of the same caliber. In recent months I defeated some of the top judokas from Belarus and Australia in the World Cup and they will all be there in London" says a rather shy, Garima, who would be competing in the 64 kg weight category, considered by experts to be the toughest weight class.
It would be improper to expect a gold medal from Garima, considering the fact that she is currently ranked 88th in the world. However, Olympics have always seen upsets and London will not be any different. If one goes by her confidence, it would be evident that she has hardly any fear of the big stage. She has been studying the videos of her opponents and preparing herself to face them with impudence.
It would be noteworthy to mention that India fielded two Women Judokas in Beijing 2008, Tombi Devi and Divya Sharma. Since this sport is not very popular in India, Garima says she has absolutely no pressure and that would be an advantage for her when she takes up her tougher opponents.
Her coach, Jiwan Sharma, is upbeat about her fearlessness and grit to take on higher ranked opponents. It was difficult to train her because of lack of world class fighters in India. Therefore, Sharma was training her with the boys at the Center of Excellence in Patiala. She gradually changed her fighting style from being aggressive and lacking in control to learning to play the waiting game and looking for opponents to give her an opening.
"I know many people will be watching and I'm not used to that. But it wouldn't bother me, my focus will only be on the mat.It would be my turn to ignore the crowd," said the 22 year old with a wide grin.
On a lighter note, she said judo wasn't the only thing in her life. She loved watching cricket and tennis with Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer being her favourites.
:-Rakesh S. Ranbir
After consistent performances at the world level, especially at World Cup in Warsaw and Asian Championship in Tashkent, Garima qualified for Olympics 2012. "It is a dream come true for me but it doesn't stop here. Now my aim is to return home with an Olympic medal" said the lone women judoka.
"The 24 judokas competing in my weight are more or less of the same caliber. In recent months I defeated some of the top judokas from Belarus and Australia in the World Cup and they will all be there in London" says a rather shy, Garima, who would be competing in the 64 kg weight category, considered by experts to be the toughest weight class.
It would be improper to expect a gold medal from Garima, considering the fact that she is currently ranked 88th in the world. However, Olympics have always seen upsets and London will not be any different. If one goes by her confidence, it would be evident that she has hardly any fear of the big stage. She has been studying the videos of her opponents and preparing herself to face them with impudence.
It would be noteworthy to mention that India fielded two Women Judokas in Beijing 2008, Tombi Devi and Divya Sharma. Since this sport is not very popular in India, Garima says she has absolutely no pressure and that would be an advantage for her when she takes up her tougher opponents.
Her coach, Jiwan Sharma, is upbeat about her fearlessness and grit to take on higher ranked opponents. It was difficult to train her because of lack of world class fighters in India. Therefore, Sharma was training her with the boys at the Center of Excellence in Patiala. She gradually changed her fighting style from being aggressive and lacking in control to learning to play the waiting game and looking for opponents to give her an opening.
"I know many people will be watching and I'm not used to that. But it wouldn't bother me, my focus will only be on the mat.It would be my turn to ignore the crowd," said the 22 year old with a wide grin.
On a lighter note, she said judo wasn't the only thing in her life. She loved watching cricket and tennis with Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer being her favourites.
:-Rakesh S. Ranbir
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