This is a classic story of inborn talent meeting the opportunity at the right time. Babu Gaonkar had not even heard of Modern Pentathlon a couple of months ago and had never fired a gun even in a village fair till June when Goa’s Pentathlon Association held a selection trial to pick the team for the 37th National Games Goa 2023.
Fast-forward to the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially inaugurates the 37th National Games in this coastal state, Gaonkar gave the entire state something to cheer for by bagging the men’s ‘Laser Run’ gold medal with a timing of 12:26.27 and then combined with Sita Gosavi to win a silver medal in mixed relay at Ponda Sports Complex on Thursday. The women’s laser run team clinched a bronze medal, to make it a memorable day for the hosts in the debuting sports discipline of Modern Pentathlon.
In the mixed team relay, Gaonkar and Gosavi set a timing of 16:01.50 to finish behind Anju and Ravi of Haryana, who clocked a time of 15:23.91. In the women’s laser run, Madhya Pradesh bagged the gold while Maharashtra clinched silver medal.
Social Welfare Minister and Sanguem MLA – Subhash Phal Dessai immediately announced cash award of Rs 1 lakh for Babu Gaonkar for his proud achievement.
Consisting five separate disciplines, the event was kickstarted by the Laser Run competition, wherein athletes have to complete five laps of 600m and pause to shoot at the target from a distance of 10m at the end of each lap. The final score combines the athlete’s lap times and shooting accuracy.
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“Competing in my home state gave me a lot of confidence as I was receiving great support from the audience present. I wanted to perform well here because it is prestigious for Goa to host such a big tournament,” said 22-year-old Gaonkar, who hails from Netravali village in Sanguem, and had to travel 40km every day to Margaon for training.
A son of a tractor mechanic and housewife mother, Gaonkar had been excelling in marathons and cross-country races since the age of 13.
Explaining how he ended up competing in Modern Pentathlon, Babu said “I had never picked up a gun in my life until 45 days ago. It was only when I met my coach Nilesh (Naik) sir and Kirtan (Vaiz) sir at the trials in June that I learned about Modern Pentathlon and Laser Run.
“I could never have been able to afford purchasing a gun for my training as it is very expensive. Fortunately, my coaches and the Goa Modern Pentathlon Association identified my talent and provided me all the support for me to achieve this medal,” said Gaonkar, who immediately received a call from the chief minister Pramod Sawant after his triumph.
Naik, who is also the Nodal Officer at the Goa Modern Pentathlon Association was all praise for Gaonkar, “We could see that Babu is blessed with talent when we scouted him at the trials conducted in the talukas across Goa in June. He was the first athlete ever for whom the Association purchased a gun – which costs over 2.5 lakh rupees – so he could train.”
“I am extremely proud of Babu’s performance and very happy for his success today. He belongs to one of the most remote areas in Goa and has to travel over 40km every day to reach our training centre in Margao, yet he has never missed a single day of training,” Naik added.
