Against the current: Odisha’s Rasmita rises from roadside tragedy to KIWSF 2025 glory

Two road accidents tried to crush Rasmita Sahoo’s dreams. But at Dal Lake, she rose above it all, paddling her way to a gold. At the Khelo India Water Sports Festival 2025 in Srinagar, the 23-year-old from Odisha on Friday stopped the clock at 53.53 seconds in the women’s 200m canoe singles, leaving behind competitors from Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.

For Rasmita, the medal was more than a victory, it was her resilience that outpaced even the harshest currents of fate.

Advertisement

Her story begins in Choudwar, Cuttack, where she grew up in a modest fishing family. In 2011, when she was just nine, tragedy struck when her father, a fisherman, suffered a motor accident that left him critically injured. Four years later, a second accident robbed her of her mother, leaving young Rasmita and her siblings adrift.

Hope surfaced when a friend with whom she used to swim at the Mahanadi River nudged her towards canoeing. The stipend at the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Jagatpur meant survival. She took the plunge, passed the trial and never looked back.

“We had financial constraints and did not think twice before making the decision,” Rasmita said. “I underwent a trial in canoeing and got selected.”

The river became her battleground, and the paddle, her weapon. She fought poverty with every stroke. Her coach, Laishram Johanson Singh, often dipped into his own pocket so she could afford to travel and eat properly.

“When I started participating in national-level events, I didn’t have money to travel and diet. My coach used to pay money to me so that I could travel, have good food, and excel at these events,” Rasmita said.

Her rise has been nothing short of remarkable. From a shack by the riverbank to a secure job in Odisha Police since 2024, Rasmita is now the backbone of her family. She’s even building them a home, a dream her late mother never lived to see.

“We lived in a shack and my father was not able to earn much as a fisherman, but my career in water sports changed that. Now we live comfortably, and I am building a house for my family,” she said.

But she isn’t done yet. Her eyes are now set on the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, scheduled from September 19 to October 4.

“I want to represent India in an international event and would do my best to fulfil this dream,” Rasmita said. “Recently, we practiced in a water body inhabited by crocodiles. I also practiced in the water body, which had a high water flow due to the outlet of the Hirakud Dam.”

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}