Swapna Barman


Swapna Barman is an Indian heptathlete. She won the gold medal at 2018 Asian Games and was placed first in the Heptathlon at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships. In August 2019, she was honoured with the Arjuna Award.

Life

Barman was born in Ghospara village near Jalpaiguri, West Bengal in 1996 in a poor family. She is unusual in having six toes on each foot. Her mother Basana worked on a tea estate and her father, Panchanan Barman, was a rickshaw driver. and is bed-ridden after having suffered a stroke in 2013, making life tricky for his four children. She found it difficult to find the right food and her unusual feet caused her pain because she could not afford extra wide running shoes. Swapna uses her prize money to look after her family who live in a house without a concrete wall. In 2016 she won a scholarship of 150,000 rupees in recognition of the success she had at athletics. She trains at the Sports Authority of India campus at Kolkata.
Barman won the gold at 2018 Asian Games, she accomplished this despite a jaw injury. Barman collapsed during the final event of the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships – Women's heptathlon which was the 800 metres. However Barman had broken many of her personal records and she had already gained enough points from the previous six events and she had finished fourth in the 800 metres.
In 2016, she was supported by the GoSports Foundation through the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme.

Achievements

YearVenueEventPointsResult
2017Kalinga Stadium, BhubaneswarHeptathlon5942Gold

Patiala Federation cup
YearVenueEventPointsResult
2017JLN Stadium, New DelhiHeptathlon5897Gold
2019Khalifa International Stadium, DohaHeptathlon5993Silver

Asian Games
YearVenueEventPointsResult
2014Incheon Asiad Main StadiumHeptathlon51785th place
2018Gelora Bung Karno StadiumHeptathlon6026Gold

Rewards for winning the Gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games