Raising an Olympian: Kavita Raut

Born to a tribal family in a rural Indian village, long distance runner Kavita Raut’s rise to Commonwealth Games bronze medal winner and London hopeful is pure rags-to-riches.

Her mum Samitra Ramdas Raut says it was hard to let her daughter leave the village to train hundreds of miles away, and admits she’s more likely to catch a glimpse of Kavita on the TV than in real life.

“My daughter was born with talent, but the most important thing I taught her was while learning to do chores,” Samitra says proudly. “At home she used to wash dishes, wash clothes, go to the forest and fetch water, all kinds of things.”

Practicing barefoot on a dirt track, Kavita’s natural talent shone through and she was spotted by a coach.
“When she won her first competition she was so excited. She wanted to win a medal for India.”

 Although reluctant to send their daughter so far away, the Raut family realised what an opportunity their talented daughter had and allowed her to go and train professionally. As Samitra’s only daughter, it was a huge decision.

“Whenever there’s a festival we don’t like celebrating without her,” she explains. “We’d see other people’s daughters who live near them. But our daughter was too far away.”

The decision paid off in 2010, with Kavita’s success at the Commonwealth Games.

“We saw her on TV.  When she held the Indian flag, my eyes were full of tears,” Samitra says, brimming with pride. And hopefully there’s more to come at this year’s Olympic Games.

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