More than winning or losing, Thursday was about freedom for Pinki Pramanik after undergoing many hardships during the last eight years. She may have clocked 12.33 seconds in the women's 100m final at the 20th Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships to finish a lowly seventh. But what she had achieved was more than what she had come to the national capital for.
Pramanik is on her way back as India's top woman athlete. Thursday's 100m was just a start but her main events – 400m and 800m – are still to come and that's what she was dreaming of competing in during her time in a Kolkata prison.
The botched gender identity test before being cleared of charges of rape, assault and impersonation that were filed in 2012 are now things of the past.
The 30-year-old Pramanik fully understands that the upcoming Rio Olympic qualification may not be her immediate goal. In fact, she needs some good performances on track to "earn" paid leave from her employers, Railways, where she has been working as a TTE at the Sealdah station.
"I've not been given paid leave because to get that, I need to show some good timings on the track. I don't blame Railways for that because that's the norm for every athlete," said Pramanik after her 100m race on Thursday. "That's why I have taken leave without pay for the last three months to train at Sports Authority of India centre under my coach Kalyan."
Pramanik got permission from Athletics Federation of India to compete in the Federation Cup and now happy that she has been able to make a comeback at the competitive level.
However, she is confident that her inclusion in the ongoing national camp could well expedite her comeback. "I'm going to meet Bhanot sir (Lalit Bhanot of AFI) to request him that I be included in the national camp. Training with more athletes will certainly improve my confidence and help me compete at the top level again soon," said Pramanik.
Pramanik gets emotional every time one asks her questions about her time in police custody. Having won gold and silver in the 4x400m relay of the Doha Asian Games and Melbourne Commonwealth Games, respectively, in 2006, Pramanik's career was cut short by a road accident in 2008. Whatever happened to her after that has not been hidden from anyone. She was forcefully subjected to hyperandrogenism test even though "no gender tests are allowed for woman athletes" and was put under suspension from her employers.
Later, the Calcutta High Court dropped all charges against her.
A reinstated job, though, has gone a long way in facilitating her recovery. But then, a three-month training is just too short for her to make a mark again at the national level. "At one point of time, I was running on the roads. But I'm now hopeful of getting paid leave to concentrate on my training fully. In any case, my pet events have not yet been held. I should do much better in 400m and 800m," Pramanik said.
