Bengal athlete Moumita Mondal’s story has been one of overcoming obstacles to pursue a dream.

Hailing from a financially disadvantaged family residing in Jirat, a town in the Hooghly district, Moumita battled frowns from her family and took to athletics like a fish to water.

Now with a long jump bronze under her belt in the recently-held National Games in Goa and a 100m hurdles gold medal in the U-23 National Open Athletics in Chandigarh in October, Moumita tells The Telegraph from Mumbai how it all started.

“I initially trained at my hometown. Then I moved to Serampore to train under coach Subhamoy Das. That was in 2018. At that point in time, long jump and triple jump were my areas of interest.

“But then Subhamoy Sir noticed my aptitude in hurdles and decided that would be my area of specialisation. That is how it all began.

“In a short time, hurdles were taking me places...I made a record in the state meet in 2018 and started taking part in many national meets.

A chance break took her to Bhubaneswar to train at the Odisha Reliance Foundation High Performance Centre in March 2021.

“That was a big battle,” Moumita remembers, “to leave home for another city. I come from a rural area and my parents are conservative. For a girl to shift to another city and that too for sports was unheard of.

“I practically fled from home, you can say.”

From Bhubaneswar she moved to the Reliance Foundation in Mumbai where she now trains under their athletics director James Hillier.

“All that is needed for the development of an athlete is available here,” says the 22-year-old, “coaches, doctors and physios, sports management experts and dieticians.”

And what are her immediate targets?

“I intend to take small steps forward. For now, I am preparing to take part in international meets and then go on to become India’s No. 1. athlete,” said the talented young athlete.