Ram Babu is an Indian track athlete. He competed at the 2022 Asian Games and won a bronze medal in the team 35 km race walk event. He gained greater recognition when he continued training for athletics while working as a daily wage laborer and a waiter in a hotel.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Ram Babu was born on Saturday, 20 March 1999 (age 24 years; as of 2023) in Bahuara village, Sonbhadra district, Uttar Pradesh, India. His zodiac sign is Pisces. He went to Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sonbhadra. In 2021, he started studying at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh. In an interview, he had revealed that he had no interest in studying in school and he used to play all the sports without getting tired even after running for a long time. According to him, it was the 2012 Olympics that inspired him to move towards his dream of pursuing a career in sports. He said,
I was not good at studies and had no interest so I wanted to pursue a career in sports. I was in seventh grade then and had seen players like Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, Sushil Kumar and Gagan Narang winning medals on television in my school hostel. The stories also appeared on the front page of the newspaper the next day and I read them all. In fact, I kept cuttings of newspaper articles and photographs of 2012 Olympic medal winners in my folder.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 4″
Weight (Approx): 60 kg
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Family
He belongs to a lower class family of Bhairavgandhi Tola of Bahuara village.
parents and siblings
His father Chhote Lal is a daily wage laborer and earns Rs 3000 to 3500 per month. His mother Meena Devi is a housewife. Ram Babu has three sisters; His two sisters are married and the name of the youngest sister is Suman.
Ram Babu with his parents
Ram Babu with his sister and mother
Wife
He is unmarried.
livelihood
After completing his schooling, he became a professional athlete. Before becoming a racewalker, he was a marathon runner. He used to run 5000 meter and 10000 meter marathon due to which he started having pain in his knee. Pramod Yadav, a local coach, suggested him to try race walking, which would not put pressure on his knees. In 2017, he went to Varanasi, where he started proper training in athletics under coach Chandrabhan Yadav. Later, he started training at SAI Bhopal and there he requested a coach to train him. In 2019, he participated in the 50 km race walk event at the 6th National Open Race Walking Championships in Chennai. In February 2020, he finished fourth in the 50 km race walk event at the 7th National Race Walking Championships in Ranchi.
Ram Babu during the 50 km race walk at the 7th National Race Walk Championship in 2020
In February 2021, he won a silver medal in the 50 km race walk at the 8th National Race Walk Championships in Ranchi, which led to his admission to the Army Sports Institute in Pune with the assistance of coach Basant Rana.
Ram Babu with his coach Basant Rana
In 2021, Ram Babu decided to move from 50 km to 35 km after World Athletics removed the 50 km event from its programme. In September 2021, she won the gold medal in the 35 km race walk event at the 60th National Open Athletics Championships in Warangal, Telangana with a national record timing of 2 hours, 46 minutes and 30 seconds. After a few months, he was invited to the Bengaluru national camp. In April 2022, he finished second in the 35 km race walk event at the 9th National Race Walk Championships in Ranchi. In October 2022, he won the gold medal at the 61st National Open Athletics Championships in Bengaluru and set a national record of 2 hours, 39 minutes and 5 seconds. In October 2022, he broke his own national record and clocked 2 hours, 36 minutes and 34 seconds in the men’s 35 km race walk event at the 36th National Games in Gujarat.
After winning gold at the National Games 2022, he got a job in the Indian Army, even though he was 11 months older than the eligibility criteria. He was later promoted to Havildar. In February 2023, he broke his record for the third time and clocked 2:32:36 at the 10th National Race Walk Championships. He broke his national record again after finishing 5th in the men’s 35 km event at the 2023 Dudinska 50 with a timing of 2:29:56. He prepared for many national and international competitions including the 19th Asian Games under the guidance of his coach. Tatiana Sibileva.
Ram Babu with his coach Tatiana Sibileva
In 2023, he was selected for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. She competed in the inaugural 35 km mixed team event with Manju Rani. He clocked a combined time of 5 hours 51 minutes and 14 seconds and won the bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Games.
medal
- Silver medal in 50 km race walk event in the 8th National Race Walk Championship (2021)
Ram Babu after winning silver medal in the 8th National Race Walk Championship 2021
- Gold medal in 35 km race walk event in the 60th National Open Athletics Championship (2021)
- Silver medal in 35 km race walk event in the 9th National Race Walk Championship (2022)
Ram Babu wins silver medal in 9th National Race Walk Championship 2022
- Gold medal in 35 km race walk event in the 61st National Open Athletics Championship (2022)
- Gold medal in 35 km race walk event in the 36th National Games (2022)
Ram Babu after winning the gold medal in the 36th National Games
- Gold medal in 35 km race walk event in the 10th National Race Walk Championship (2023)
- Bronze Medal in 35 km Race Walk Mixed Team Event at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China (2023)
Congratulations to Ram Babu and Manju Rani for making India proud with a bronze medal in the 35 km race walk mixed team event. This would not be possible without the tremendous grit and determination shown by these amazing athletes. pic.twitter.com/IYiZ4Ectnz
-Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 4 October 2023
Facts/General Knowledge
- When he was training in Varanasi, his father used to send him some money; However, this was not enough. So, he started working as a waiter in a hotel to pay the house rent and take care of his diet. In an interview, while talking about his experience of working as a waiter, he said,
I used to get Rs 3000 per month for working as a waiter but they made me work till midnight and even at 1 am. I had to wake up at 4 in the morning to train at the stadium. This was very difficult for me. People did not respect me and misbehaved with me. So I left Varanasi and returned home.
- During the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, he returned home from SAI Bhopal. It was difficult for him and his family to survive as they had no money or jobs. In an interview, he shared that after the MNREGA scheme of the Government of India was launched, he worked as a laborer for one and a half months under the scheme along with his father. After saving some money, he returned to SAI Bhopal to continue his training. He said,
Luckily, we got work under the MNREGA scheme and I helped my father in digging potholes in road construction work. “A person will get Rs 300 to Rs 400 per day depending on the quantity of work.”
He is Ram Babu, who once worked as a MNREGA laborer and waiter. Today he won the bronze medal #Asian Games 35 km race walk in mixed team. Talk about determination and grit. pic.twitter.com/HFB6s8AUZj
– Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) 4 October 2023
- After winning the bronze medal in the 19th Asian Games, many people were inspired after hearing the success story of Ram Babu and one of them was Anand Mahindra. On October 14, 2023, Anand Mahindra took to X (formerly Twitter) and offered his family any tractor or pickup truck of their choice.
From daily wage workers to Asian Games medal winners. Indomitable courage and determination. please give me his contact number @thebetterindia I would like to support his family by giving them any of our tractors or pickup trucks that they want. pic.twitter.com/ivbI9pzf5F
-Anand Mahindra (@AnandMahindra) 14 October 2023
- In a 2023 interview, Babu mentioned his decision to transition from a 35 km to a 20 km race walk from the next season, citing the unpredictability of the mixed team event, where the combined time of the male and female competitors determines the medal outcome. Does. He said,
You never know, my colleague (female race walker) may not be able to perform well on a particular day, she may be sick but can still participate or she may be disqualified during the competition. All this is not in my hands. So, I am shifting to the 20km event from next year.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn