Photos: Rani Rampal's inspiring story from bare essentials to the Tokyo Olympics

Indian women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal became the youngest player in the national women's hockey team when she participated at the 2010 World Cup at the tender age of 15. Now 26, Rani has reached the Olympics, and even participating in Tokyo this year. The young athlete recently opened up about her journey which started with having no gear, barely two meals and a lot of struggle. Read on...

Published on: Jul 28, 2021 8:19 PM IST

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Rani Rampal shared, “I wanted an escape from my life; from the electricity shortages to the mosquitoes buzzing in our ear, from barely having two meals to seeing our home getting flooded. There was only so much my parents could do — Papa was a cart puller and Maa was a maid.” (Instagram)

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She went on how she'd spend hours watching people play hockey at a nearby academy, "There was a hockey academy nearby, so I’d spend hours watching the players–I really wanted to play. Papa would earn Rs.80 a day and couldn't afford to buy me a stick. Everyday, I’d ask the coach to teach me. He’d reject me saying, ‘You aren’t strong enough to pull through a practice session.’ (Instagram)

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Rani Rampal revealed how she would play with broken sticks and usual clothes rather than proper hockey gear, "So, I began practicing with a broken hockey stick–I used to run around in a salwar kameez. But I was determined; maine bahut mushkil se convince kiya coach ko! " (Instagram)

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Her family was also not completely comfortable with her wearing hockey gear, she shares, "But my family said, ‘Hum tumhe skirt pehen kar khelne nahi denge.’ I’d plead, ‘Please mujhe jaane do. If I fail, I’ll do whatever you want.’ My family gave in." (Instagram)

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Opening up about the difficult training she went through, "Training would start early; we didn’t have a clock, so mom would look at the sky to check if it was time to wake me. At the academy, it was mandatory for each player to bring 500 ml of milk. My family could only afford milk worth 200 ml; so I’d mix the milk with water and drink it." (Instagram)