22 January,2018 08:35 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh Mayure
Jyoti Gawate missed gold by two minutes. Pic/Suresh Karkera
Mumbai Marathon defending champion Jyoti Gawate (2:50:47) fell two minutes short of railways' Sudha Singh (2:48:32) and had to settle for a silver medal in the Indian women's category on Sunday. What hurts her more is that she is unable to get a job despite winning 15 full marathons.
"I've won 15 of my 30 full marathons. I won the Allahabad Marathon five times on the trot, which is a record itself. I also triumphed at the Hyderabad and Bengaluru events thrice and Mumbai Marathon twice. I am still jobless; what more can I do?" she said. Gawate, 30, who has approached the railways several times, believes it should employ her. She is at a loss to comprehend how she is jobless despite there being several India runners employed by the railways.
Also read - Mumbai Marathon 2018: Winners, highlights and full coverage of the event
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"The railways should give me job as a marathon runner as most of its cross-country runners take part in full marathons. It also rewards these runners for good performances. Most with whom I run are enjoying jobs in the railways and other organisations, but I am still struggling. I think I am missing a godfather," rued Gawate.
No consideration
Her coach Ravi Raskatla echoed Gawate's feelings: "When we approached a senior Western Railways sports officer for a job, she said Jyoti's performance in the marathon was not up to the mark. We then pointed to Jyoti's gold medal in cross-country races, and she replied it was too late. "Jyoti was only 24 then and her performances were appreciated by another railways official when she came to know of her rural background and her full marathon timings of 2 hours, 50 minutes."
Raskatla stressed that the railways should consider full marathon achievements for a job, as most of its runners represent the country at the international level in full marathon.
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