Seema hid her trip to Japan from mum, then won bronze at the Asian Games in the 10,000m

History-making distance runner Seema didn’t want her 70-year-old mother to worry about her whereabouts when she headed to Japan for the Asian Games. So she came up with a simple solution – fly away without telling her about the biggest task of her career.

Seema who fetched a surprising bronze in the women’s 10,000 meters clocking 32:50.05 seconds, he says he has a protective mother who worries whenever he travels. But over the years, she had accepted that Seema was in Bengaluru for a long training session and left her with that exact assumption as she headed to Nagoya.

“My father is no more. I have a mother but she is quite old, around 78. I was born very late when she was 45. Whenever I go out, she is very tense. So I did not tell her that I am going to Japan for the Asian Games,” Seema said after winning the medal.

“But whenever she finds out, she won’t be able to sleep for a day. She (mother) has a problem with high blood pressure, so whenever I go to practice or tournaments, I don’t tell her much. I just tell my sister.”

Seema left for Nagoya after informing her elder sister who must have spread the word by now, especially after Seema’s medal show.

The 25-year-old hails from Reta village in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district and on Thursday became only the third Indian woman to win a medal in the women’s 10,000m event, after Preeja Sreedharan and Kavita Raut won gold and silver at the 2010 Asian Games.

Asked if her mother now knows where she is, Seema said, “Maybe she (mother) already knew from my sister, maybe they are watching me on TV.”

“Otherwise she (mother) must think that I am currently in Bengaluru (SAI Center).”

“I have a big sister. She is around 45 years old. There are six (members) of us in the family. I am the youngest.”

When her father died, Seema was only 12 years old and spent her childhood running around barefoot and herding cattle. Her mother supported her in athletics, even though the villagers frowned upon it.

“This is my first Asian Games. I am proud to have won the bronze medal and fulfilled my dream.”

Speaking about the race, she said all competitors were looking for a medal and not times.

“The race was very tactical. Everyone was running for a medal. I also thought I would fight for a medal because it was my first Asian Games. Everyone wants to win gold for their country.”

“I was fighting for gold but I won bronze. I am happy but my next event is on September 28, which is 5000m. I will do my best to change the color of my medal,” said Seema, who won silver at the World University Games last year.

She said of the preparations for the Asian Games: “I trained under Scott Simon. We train with Olympic champions and that helped us in performance and mentally. We have the same mindset that we can compete with the best.”

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