Khelo India Youth Games: Young Santi Biswas' journey from village bordering Bangladesh to cycling champion

The teenage cyclist from Nadia district in West Bengal has already won three medals, including two gold.

Parents of Santi Biswas weren’t associated with sports remotely as their village bordering Bangladesh in the Nadia district of West Bengal doesn’t have any sports facilities. 

Her journey from the nondescript village to joining Delhi’s National Centre of Excellence in cycling has been long yet engrossing. Last week the teenage cyclist representing West Bengal won three medals, including two gold in the women’s sprint event of the Khelo India Youth Games 2022 Madhya Pradesh held at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Sports Complex. 

“I am happy to have started the new season on a promising note,” Santi Biswas added. “My parents were excited that I am doing well in sports.”

Santi’s father is a cab driver, while her mother is a housewife. Her elder sister goes to dancing classes. 

During her childhood, Santi took up yoga in school but lost interest as she grew up. At the age of 12, she switched to running for general fitness. With the passage of time, she started competing in middle-distance races at the district level. To excel in athletics, she even visited an athletics academy 15km away from her village on weekends either by bus or local train with a group of young girls of her age. On other days, she would practice with local girls in the village ground.

Santi lost interest in athletics at the age of 15 as she couldn’t go beyond the district level. “I realised athletics is not the right discipline for me as there was no improvement. I couldn’t win any medals in the races I competed in,” she recalls. “I wasn’t satisfied with what I was doing so I thought of trying something else.”

She quit athletics and tried her hand in the local cycle race in 2019. In her first attempt, she won a silver in the 10km road race held in Kolkata. She was excited as she found the right discipline. “I was elated on winning silver in my first road race in cycling,” she recalls.

The silver medal not only gave a big boost to her confidence, but her gut instinct told her she can do far better in the future. In 2020, West Bengal state cycling officials encouraged her to attend the NCOE trials in Kolkata. She was successful. The next round of trials took place in Ranchi. She was again successful. 

In the third and final trials in Delhi, she finished seventh in the endurance cycling event, but was eligible for the Sports Authority of India (SAI)—NCOE—in endurance cycling events.

Santi Biswas doesn’t have the habit of quitting in the face of adversities. Instead, she will try to make an honest effort to experience the challenge that comes her way. “Let’s try new things in life” is her motto.

In her first year at the NCOE, she won a bronze at the 2021 national cycling competition in Hyderabad. But on the advice of the NCOE coach she switched to sprint events. “The coach told me I will do better in short races as I was bettering in lifting weights in the gym,” the 12th class student said of making a change. 

Santi Biswas has been at Delhi’s NCOE for the past three years. She has won a couple of medals at the national level and silver in team pursuit at the 2022 Asian Track Cycling Championships held in Delhi.

Competitive cycling has its share of setbacks particularly when an athlete is injured. The Nadia cyclist too suffered wrist injury in 2021 and was side-lined for four months. It was a difficult phase of competitive cycling as others are practicing hard and you are watching them from the bench.

However, with the support of coaches and physio, Santi Biswas bounced back stronger. After wrist surgery and rehabilitation, she won a medal in her respective sprint event at 2022 Asian track cycling championships. “Focus during rehab was on improving core and leg strength. All the good work enabled me to come back stronger.

I just had one month to prepare for the continental competition. It was a challenging situation but I kept on trying to move ahead step by step and was successful in achieving good results.”

The ongoing Khelo India Youth Games 2022 turned out to be memorable for Santi Biswas as she won two gold and one silver medal in the track event. “Achieving good results in the first competition of the season gave a big boost to my confidence,” Santi Biswas said.

Santi Biswas has graduated to the senior group and is aware of the challenges ahead. She is ready to face the reality in life. “I need to do more practice. More hard work to earn a place in the senior national squad,” the young rider said of her future plans.