The story of Simma, an athlete from the small village of Chamba in Himachal Pradesh state, is both very touching and full of struggle. This 25-year-old runner, who wrote history by winning bronze in the 10,000-meter distance, did not even inform her 78-year-old mother about the trip to the Asian Games in Japan. The reason was her mother's anxiety.
Simma knew that if her mother learned about her daughter's trip to the Asian Games in Japan, she wouldn't be able to sleep all night. Therefore, Simma decided to keep it a secret, convincing her mother that she was still at the training camp in Bangalore.
After winning the medal, Simma told her mother about her achievement. She mentioned that she has no father, and her mother is quite elderly, around 78 years old. Simma was born when her mother was 45. She noted that her mother gets very nervous when she goes out, which is why she didn't tell her about the trip to the Asian Games in Japan.
Furthermore, her mother suffers from high blood pressure. Under these circumstances, Simma tries not to give her mother too much information when she leaves for training or competitions. Only her elder sister knows about this situation in the family.
Before leaving for Nagoya, Simma provided complete information to her elder sister. Now, after achieving the historic bronze, the hope is that this news has reached her mother.
Simma smiled and speculated that perhaps her sister had already told her mother, or maybe her mother was watching her on television, otherwise her mother might think she was still in Bangalore.
According to Sony Sports Network, Simma Kumari achieved a historic victory by winning bronze in the women's 10,000-meter race, marking the first triumph for the Indian team since the 2010 Asian Games.
Simma's journey was not easy. Simma, a resident of Reta village in Chamba district, lost her father at the age of 12. In childhood, she ran barefoot and herded cattle. When she tried to make athletics her profession in the village, people asked questions, but her mother always supported her daughter.
Today, this same daughter has written her name in history by winning bronze in the 10,000-meter race at the Asian Games representing India. Simma won the bronze medal (32:50.05). She is only the third Indian woman to win a medal in the women's 10,000-meter race at the Asian Games; before her, Pridha Shridharan won gold at the 2010 Asian Games, and Kavita Raut won silver.
For Simma, this is not just a medal, but the fulfillment of a dream. She said: