Meet Sayali, a cobbler's daughter who ran barefoot and won gold medal

Remember Majidi’s Children of Heaven, where a young boy runs a race barefoot to help his sister? Well, Sayali’s story is a similar one. Except she is a cobbler’s daughter, and she ran a race in her school without shoes to win a gold medal to earn some extra money and help her parents financially.

A 9th grade student of RM Bhatt High School, Parel, Mumbai, this 14-year-old girl has experienced the joy of finishing the 3000-metre run in 12:27.8 seconds in the Under-17 event at the District Sports Office inter-school athletic championship. She recalls how midway into the race she felt her feet burning and her body dehydrated. but she went on, because whe wanted to finish the race she had started.

Her father, Mangesh is the only one who earns in their family between Rs 3000-10,000 a month. “Whatever little I earn goes into my two daughters’ education. My elder daughter Mayuri (17) is doing a diploma in Information Technology, while my wife Savita keeps ill frequently. Sayali though, has made me very proud today,” he told Mid Day.

Image Credit : Mid Day

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