Srabani Nanda's sprinting saga: A tale of resilience, sacrifice, and victory

The year 2023 saw Srabani Nanda emerge from the shadows in the women's sprint division in India. She managed to upstage two much more fancied rivals on a big stage and grab the spotlight.

Fresh from her Asian Games silver medal, Jyothi Yarajji went neck and neck with Kamaljeet Kaur in the women’s 200m final at the 37th National Games in Goa in early November.

As the sprint reached its climax point, both Jyothi and Kamaljeet didn’t go past the finish line in the first place. It was the veteran sprinter from Odisha, Srabani Nanda, who swiftly moved in the last 50 metres to cross the line and clinch the gold.

She added the gold to her silver medal in the 100m sprint to finish the domestic season on a high note. She had already won silver in 200m at the 62nd National Open Athletics Championship 2023 in Bengaluru in October.

This was Srabani letting everyone know that she still has the appetite to win major titles after making her debut at junior level in 2002. After competing for more than a decade-and-a-half on track, she understands the mechanics of a sprinter’s life.

“Sprint events in athletics is not a sport where you have the option to do a mistake. For example, if you foul start then there is no way that you can go and run again. You train for a whole year and if you foul start in heat then, that’s the end of the competition,” Srabani Nanda told Sportskeeda in an exclusive interaction.

“You have to prepare yourself not only on the track but also during the rest period. When you are taking rest, it’s not only about sleep - it’s actually you are recovering your body with your diet system. I have been focusing on all those things. Apart from track, I train hard and put myself in a system where I can recover to train again the next day. My family is also involved in it as they are equally sacrificing as I do,” she added.

The Olympian heaped praise on India’s rising sprinter Jyothi Yarraji for her international achievements and ruled out any sense of rivalry between them. She feels that their main events aren’t the same.

“Jyothi Yarraji is a hurdler (100m), so I cannot compare myself to here. I cannot feel like, ‘Oh wow, I beat Jyothi Yarraji'. This was the first time I was competing against her in 200m. She is a beautiful hurdler, I would definitely mention it. She has done a beautiful job in hurdles so far. Winning or losing to her doesn’t make me happy or sad,” Srabani said about her her 4x100m relay teammate.

Srabani Nanda's hassle in early days

The achievements of Srabani Nanda in the recent domestic events were the result of all the sacrifices she has made, including the minor ones. The Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) rescheduling of domestic competitions forced many top athletes in the country to tweak their calendar years.

Srabani was left with no option but to skip her training at MVP Track and Field Club in Jamaica. Speaking on how the changes in the tournaments impacted her schedule, the Odisha sprinter said:

“They (MVP) don’t care about what Indian people are doing here as they follow the world schedule. It was challenging for me to get that disturbance and come over here and compete within a month.

“I have to give time to my body and prepare myself mentally for the best thing to do at that time. For 100m, I can sprint well but for 200m, you need to do a little bit of endurance part to adjust your body to get into that speed.”

These challenges seem easy compared to the hassle she was put into in the formative years of her athletics career. Traveling in local trains seated near the toilet space, attending competitions without eating anything, and the limited pocket money of ₹70 per day are some of her struggles.

She would manage her expenses from the prize money received from the Biju Patnaik Sports Award started by the Odisha government in 2005. A favorable development occurred when she joined the Railways Sports Promotion Board in 2012. This allowed her the luxury to book her flight tickets and accommodation for domestic and international competitions.

Srabani won two bronze medals in 100m and 200m at the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Colombo in 2007. A year later, she was part of the gold-medal winning 4x100m relay team at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune. Since then, she has won a plethora of medals until the gold at the National Games.

Srabani Nanda reaps reward for consistency

The senior sprinter was awarded ₹9.4 lakh from the Odisha government at the start of the month for her remarkable show in the national circuit. She, in fact, started her career by joining the sports hostel in Bhubaneshwar under the state government, with the provision of athletics discipline being the key element.

“That is the reason why I am here today and I would like to thank the Odisha sports department for my career,” Srabani said.

Odisha has transformed into a hotbed of Indian Olympic sports with the Kalinga Stadium being the epicentre of it. The capital city of Bhubaneswar will have the largest indoor athletics stadium in South Asia of 10,000 square metre track.

Lauding the efforts of the Odisha government to bolster the infrastructure of the state, Srabani Nanda said:

“From my experience, everything is in the plate and you just have to choose what you want to do and achieve for yourself. If you talk about tracks, gymnastic halls, recovery staff, sports science centre, physiotherapy centres, and Khelo India. Everything is included in the Kalinga stadium for athletes and anybody can use them.”

She added:

“They have done a tremendous job in bringing this indoor stadium which is really helpful for all the athletes who are thinking to make their career in sports. Now, it is athletes’ duty to do best and reach their goals.”

Srabani Nanda's experience at MVP club

When she participated in her first Olympics, in Rio in 2016, that’s where she learnt about the establishment of MVP Track and Field Club in Kingston, Jamaica. It is the same facility where World and Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce trains.

Srabani Nanda's proposal to train in Jamaica was approved by the Odisha government along with a few of her sponsors. The cost for a seven-month stay was close to ₹1 crore, as reported by The Indian Express in 2017.

The motive was to match the competition of the level of the world-class players, with a drastic change in methodology.

“I have trained with Asafa Powell, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shericka Jackson, and Stephenie McPherson. Those are the athletes who I see and want to be like them,” she said.

However, Srabani didn’t join the club in the last season because of the national competition scheduling fiasco. She will take a call on a return after checking the new Indian domestic schedule next year.

During her five-year period in the Carribean region, the Kandhamal-born athlete initially found it tough to adjust to food patterns. But eventually, she developed a taste for it.

Callaloo and fish, ackee and saltfish, stew chicken, baked chicken, and jerk chicken are some of the famous Jamaican dishes she savored during her time there.

How Srabani Nanda switches her mind off-track

To switch her mind from the track and the frenetic lifestyle, the 32-year-old finds escape in her drawings, though she feels that she isn’t good at it. She has drawn Bhagwan Shri Krishna in one of her collections.

“When I usually draw it takes two to three hours or I do it in intervals. When I am doing it definitely I am not thinking about anything else. My mind is blank at that point of time and after completing it, I feel good about myself. I feel some satisfaction.

“It is a very good thing for switching off the track. It helps me better in the track when you switch on and switch off. It helps me not thinking athletics or anything else. In a calm mind, I do something and again I focus on my events after that.”

Srabani is currently ranked outside 1000 in the world rankings. Her season-best score this year was 11.50s (100m) and 23.69 (200m), which is far from the qualification timing of 11.07s and 22.57s, respectively.

At the age of 32, it certainly gives the impression that this could be her last quest for an Olympics podium finish. However, she cites the example of top sprinters in the globe to deny that this won’t be her last attempt.

“I cannot say it would be the last chance. If you see Shelly-Ann and Allyson Felix have been running in their 35s and 36s and Justin Gatlin ran when he was 39. So, I don’t want to limit myself or admit that this is my last. I would do what is best for me and my country from my side,” Srabani signed off.