37th National Games: Maharashtra’s Mansi Mohite braves jellyfish bite to clinch triathlon gold

PANAJI — Maharashtra’s Mansi Mohite braved leg numbness caused by a jellyfish bite during the swimming leg to clinch the women’s triathlon gold medal in the 37th National Games at the Miramar beach on Sunday.

The 21-year-old led Maharashtra’s 1-2 finish on the podium with an aggregate time of 1:14.06s with her statement Sanjana Joshi taking the silver after last edition’s gold medallist Pragyna Mohan of Gujarat, who had finished second, was disqualified for taking external help to set up her broken cycle pedal.

This was Mohite’s fourth gold medal of the National Games. She had completed a hat-trick of medals in Modern Pentathlon, winning the Biathle women, Biathle team and Biathle mixed relay last week.

“This gold is special for me since I finished second last time and had worked hard for the last 12 months with the aim of changing the colour of my medal,” said Mohite, who had to be hospitalised soon after the race for treatment since her leg was completely numb.

“The jellyfish bit me when just over 100m were left in the swimming leg and I started feeling numb by the time I changed for the cycling leg. But I was in the leader group and told myself that I would at least aim to finish the race and pushed myself,” she said.

The swimmers normally use a certain oil to keep the jellyfish away. Mohite had also covered her entire body with the oil but had left out her ankle as it was taped following an injury during the Modern Pentathlon competition.

Mohite was clearly struggling by the time she turned onto the Miramar beach road to finish the race and her mother kept on egging her to push despite the pain as she had almost a 300m lead over the chasing Pragya Mohan. She ultimately collapsed after completing the race and had to be taken to the hospital.

“My mother has been my biggest supporter and she figured out that I was struggling. So, she started running with me on the sidelines and cheered me on,” said Mohite, who trains at the State Government’s Kreeda Prabodhini in Pune.

The 21-year-old started as a swimmer and water polo player and even won medals for the state before coach Balaji Kendre asked her to give triathlon a try.

“Coach was impressed by my stamina and wanted me to train for triathlon and I am happy that I made the switch,” said Mohite, who wanted to join the football team after being enrolled in Kreeda Prabodhini as a 12-year-old but ended up being sent for swimming training.

Discharged from the hospital after being kept under observation for a couple of hours, Mohite is looking for a day of rest before she goes back to try and win the mixed relay to cap off her National Games campaign.

37th National Games: Enjoying the vibe as this was my first trip to Goa, says shooter Anjum Moudgil after winning gold

PANAJI — Hours after bagging a gold in the women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position event at the ongoing 37th National Games in Goa, two-time world championships medallist Anjum Moudgil preferred to spend the rest of the day, strolling across some of the popular beaches around the coastal state.

The Punjab shooter pipped her state-maté Sift Kaur Samra for the top spot on the podium with a total of 458.9 against Samra’s 458.2. Madhya Pradesh’s Ashi Chouksey finished with the bronze medal with a cumulative total of 445.5.

“This was my first trip to Goa, I’m enjoying the vibe out here. It felt good to win the gold medal earlier in the day, and thought of spending the last few hours visiting the popular hangouts out here before flying back to Chandigarh tomorrow,” said the ace shooter.

Having competed in Goa for the first time, Anjum said she was satisfied with the conditions and the infrastructure here. The shooting competitions of the 37th National Games are held at the Mandrem Shooting Range, about 40 km from Panaji.

“The range is a decent one, I was competing here for the first time. It’s a well-equipped range and the shooters are happy with the facilities available at the range,” she said.

After finishing her National Games assignment with a gold, the 29-year-old will head back to Chandigarh for the Diwali holidays but won’t have much time to unwind as she has to prepare for the National Shooting Championships, starting on November 24 at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Faridabad.

“The next target is to do well at the senior nationals and take forward the momentum from the National Games gold medal win. It will be a few days break for Diwali but have to keep preparing for the national championships,” she said.

The Chandigarh-born shooter, who missed a 2024 Paris Olympic quota by a whisker, is hopeful of boarding the flight to the French capital by giving her best in the selection trials ahead of the quadrennial showpiece event next year.

For India, the 15-year-old Tilottama Sen and Mehuli Ghosh have already won the quotas for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the women’s 10m Air Rifle event, while Odisha’s Shriyanka Sadangi and Sift Kaur Samra booked the quotas in the 50m women’s Rifle 3P event.

However, as the quotas are earned for the country, the National Olympic Committee has the exclusive authority to select who will represent it at the Olympic Games. The squad will be picked based on selection trials and all good performances in the lead-up to the Olympics will boost a shooter’s confidence ahead of the trials for Paris 2024.

“I missed the Paris qualification by a narrow 0.1. The quotas have already been won, so the target is to keep the momentum in whatever tournaments I take part in, before the selection trials for the Games. The squad could come out somewhere in June,” Anjum said.

Also read: 37th National Games: Manipur clinch 9 gold in wushu, cycling