Swapna Barman Clinches Gold Despite Intense Foot Pain
There’s no stopping Swapna Barman. The 21-year-old heptathlete is the cynosure of all eyes right now, and with good reason. She brought home a gold medal in one of the toughest categories – the heptathlon at the Asian Games 2018. This is a track and field contest made up of seven events. And this young girl did it in style, crossing the 6000-point mark in the event. And while she did this, she suffered a toothache and excruciating pain in her feet.
Swapna has six toes on each foot and her immediate request after winning was shoes that actually fit. “Normal shoes don’t work for me. There is lot of pain when I wear any shoe, spikes or anything,” she said. I hope they make special shoes for me because I have a lot of pain. Even warm-up shoes hurt, so forget about spikes.”
There was a request made for special shoes for Swapna. In fact, a couple of companies were even approached. However, after finding the quality questionable and unimpressive, Swapna continued with regular footwear. The hope is, now that she is in the limelight, companies will be willing to customise shoes for her.
Swapna’s manager, Sharba Tasneem, also approached international brands but the response has been far from positive, if not a complete dismissal. “For her to reach her full potential she requires what most elite athletes around the world receive – customised equipment. We have approached all major leading brands so they can make customised shoes for her. However, our requests have fallen on deaf ears so far. We hope that her performance at the Asian Games will catch their attention,” Sharba told Scroll.
We hope Swapna is noticed for the valiant sportsperson she is and finds her feet, literally. Here’s wishing her the best! 
