Indian women's hockey team's Rani Rampal from Haryana is the recipient of the Padma Shri, Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards.
Hailing from an underprivileged family in Haryana’s Shahabad, Rani Rampal made the whole country proud with her exceptional hockey talents.
The 27-year-old has always looked at the sport not just as a passion but also as a way out from her family’s poverty. Her father was a cart puller and her mother was a house help who lived in a kaccha house that flooded every monsoon.
Even though her family stood against it, Rani was talented enough to get admitted into Shahabad Hockey Academy and received training under Baldev Singh, recipient of the Dronacharya Award.
Then at the age of 15, she became the youngest player to join the national hockey team in 2008. Later in 2016, when the Indian women’s hockey team qualified for the Olympics for the first time in 36 years, Rani was a key player.
In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Rani led the Indian team that bagged the fourth position, which was no less than a gold medal.
Watch Rani’s inspiring hockey journey:
