DEHRADUN: It wasn’t the kind of obstacle one expects at the National Games. For Sonia, who goes by her first name, the problem wasn’t endurance or speed or the will to win — it was her feet. Specifically, the size of them.
At 23, Sonia is one of Uttarakhand’s rising distance runners, a determined athlete with a daily wager for a father and a dream that outran the poverty that shadowed her.
She had trained for years for the 10,000-metre race, pushing through exhaustion, injury, and the kind of personal sacrifice that only young athletes know. But as she stepped onto the track at Maharana Pratap Sports College in Dehradun on Saturday, her challenge was unexpectedly simple: she didn’t have the right shoes.
Her feet are a UK size 3 — 8.7 inches from heel to toe — smaller than what most sporting brands bother to stock. Women’s running shoes typically start at size 4 and go up to 8. It’s a small inconvenience in everyday life, but a serious problem when you’re about to run 25 laps on a synthetic track with competitors who have every advantage of modern sports science laced up tightly around their feet.
The state’s sports department had provided Sonia with a kit for the event. But the shoes? “They didn’t have my size,” she said, recounting her predicament to TOI. She had two options: withdraw from the race or run in an old pair of shoes that had long lost their cushioning. “As a long-distance runner, it is difficult to perform without proper running shoes,” she admitted.
But then she squared her shoulders, stepped onto the track, and ran.
And she won. Not gold, not silver — but a bronze that felt just as good. When she crossed the finish line, gasping and triumphant, the audience at the stadium took notice. Her story spread quickly, winding its way from the trackside murmurs to the ears of Amit Sinha, the special principal secretary (sports) for Uttarakhand. By the evening, he had made sure she had the shoes she needed — a brand-new pair, properly sized, properly made for a runner like her.
“As soon as I came to know about the issue, I directed the officials to arrange a pair of shoes for her by all means,” Sinha said. “By evening, a new pair was arranged and gifted to her. The Uttarakhand sports department is honoured to support an athlete like Sonia, whose determination in winning medals for the state despite unusual challenges is unmatched.”
But the state’s recognition didn’t stop there. The Uttarakhand sports department also announced a Rs 6 lakh cash prize for Sonia and a govt job — her future, suddenly, as secure as the ground beneath her feet.
As for Sonia, she was thinking of home, of her father in Haridwar, of the moment she would walk in with a medal in her hands. “This medal,” she said, smiling, “is going to put a wide smile on my parents’ faces. They have worked hard to support me.”