Bhubaneswar: CA Bhavani Devi, the first Indian Olympic Fencer, laid the foundation for the younger generation of the country to dream and achieve the impossible.
She is the only Indian in the Olympics history to qualify for the fencing game. She is the only woman to have reached the piste of the world’s prestigious stage where no woman or man from a country of 1.3 billion has gone before.
The fencer, even won the first match but unfortunately lost in the second to Manon Brunet of France. In a tweet, Bhavani said sorry for not being able to win the match for the country
Big Day ?
It was Excitement & Emotional.
I won the First Match 15/3 against Nadia Azizi and become the First INDIAN Fencing Player to win a Match at Olympic but 2nd Match I lost 7/15 against world top 3 player Manon Brunet. I did my level best but couldn’t win.
I am sorry ? ?? pic.twitter.com/TNTtw7oLgO— C A Bhavani Devi (@IamBhavaniDevi) July 26, 2021
Talking to SonySports Bhavani said, “on the first day in the Olympic Village the truth dawned on me that I landed in my dream place in the world. I had always wanted to represent India and I was there to do it.”
Coming from a middle class family, she had to face some challenges in her early life. “Fencing is an expensive game in the early days of training, we used to practice with bamboo sticks and play matches with the equipment which we bought with great difficulty.”
Her passion for representing the country was visible in her attire, dressed in a tee of national colours and her nails were also painted in Tricolour.
Her sorry tweet for the nation received a reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, who wrote:
“You gave your best and that is all that counts. Wins and losses are a part of life. India is very proud of your contributions. You are an inspiration for our citizens.”
You gave your best and that is all that counts.
Wins and losses are a part of life.
India is very proud of your contributions. You are an inspiration for our citizens. https://t.co/iGta4a3sbz
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 26, 2021
It may be mentioned here that Bhavani is a product of KIIT Deemed University in Odisha Capital.
“It was my childhood dream of participating in Olympics and I have worked hard towards achieving that goal but the efforts would not have borne fruits without the relentless support of KIIT DU and Dr Achyuta Samanta”, Bhavani had said after qualifying for the Olympics.
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