Assam's Gongutri returns from road accident to win cycling gold

Gold medallist Gongutri Bordoloi's cycling dream may have ended even before it took wing, if her mother had had her way.

Five years back, the girl from Naogaon in Assam, suffered a massive road accident while training: it left her with a broken collarbone and multiple lacerations, injuries that kept her off the saddle for over a year.

At the Khelo India Youth Games here on Monday, she won the U-21 girls road race cycling gold medal.

"When she saw my state, my mother put her foot down, and told me to give up the sport," the 17-year-old said.

"But my father, a policeman, stood by my side, fought for me and made me cling on to my passion when I could have been down and almost out."

"My dad is a fighter, my inspiration. He said if at all I have to quit it has to be on my terms, not because I had an injury," she explained.

With a gold in her pocket now, Gongutri can bury the idea of quitting for good. Not that she was really contemplating it.

In an exciting road race, that wasn't without ..