BASIL SYLVESTER PINTO
PANAJI
Sixteen-year-old Sejal Nayer, studying at Lokvishwas Pratishthan, Dhavali, Ponda was among the four gold medalists from the state to do Goa and India proud at the recently concluded Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi.
Winning the Gold in the 200m run at the Special Olympics gives Nayer utmost satisfaction. “I felt very nice winning the medal as it was my first time at the world level,” the intellectually differently-abled athlete disclosed to ‘The Goan’.
“The unassuming Nayer since taking admission at the Secondary level at Lokvishwas in 2016, has always shown an inclination in sports. Where she was studying earlier, she was reserved and not participating in sports or any other activities. After joining our school, she began to open up,” reveals her PE teacher, Suresh Naik.
Incidentally, she took to athletics at a competitive level only after joining the aforementioned school for the differently-abled in 2016. In the very first edition of the Special Olympics Bharat in Jaipur, Rajasthan in 2016, Nayer secured three gold medals in 100m, 200m and 4 x 100 m relay (female team event) and from there on there was no looking back.
National team coach, Siddhant Naik spoke in glowing terms of Nayer’s commitment. “I met her for the first time at the Nationals in 2016 where her journey began and she subsequently earned herself a spot in the National team. She then attended three camps under my stead at Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi where we worked on improving her timings and overall performance. Her personal coaches, Suresh Naik and Vishal Priolkar have worked hard with her as well at school. When I met her again in Delhi in March last year to impart a seven-day advanced technology training, she was taught how to take a start, the pick-up, etc,” divulged Naik.
Success at a highly competitive level does not come easy. It requires sheer hard work and dedication in overpowering one’s barriers. “She regularly trains in school from 7-9am and again, in the evenings from 4-6 pm. In fact, barely two days before leaving for Abu Dhabi, she was suffering from high fever, giddiness and stomach upset. She was taken for an MRI scan which showed nothing,” stated her PE teacher.
Unwavering and confident of going the distance, Nayer said that despite her recent illness she will still compete and not sit back for the Worlds and the fruition was there to see.
Her background could have made her more mentally stable then she is but her resolve to brave out a better future for herself was the silver lining. While her mother passed away in an accident three years back, her father disappeared without a trace. Her sister, Rajeshwari, older to her by a year is severely mentally challenged and is studying at the same school as her.
Interestingly, Nayer was studying earlier in Lokmanya Tilak School, Ponda, a normal school though being a differently-abled girl.
Lokvishwas Headmaster, Arvind More speaking to The Goan revealed how Nayer came to be one of their more inspiring student stories. “Her aunt, Lallan Gajanand Sawant had come to me at the Matruchalaya for admitting Nayer at our school. She was slow in studies and had failed an IQ test where she was studying in a normal school until Std VII. After joining Lokvishwas, and being enrolled as one of the students in our special school syllabus, Nayer’s hidden talents came to the fore. She began showcasing her talent in singing, dancing and sports as well. Apart from athletics, she had an interest in Badminton and Table Tennis too. She has shown a lot of interest in every event that happens in our school,” stated her proud Headmaster.
More added to say that having done her State and country proud, he is confident that Nayer will get a secure job from the government which will ensure her future. He expressed his immense gratitude to Special Olympics Bharat (SOB) for their role in giving a better future to differently abled talents. “Their (SOB) role is huge. Without them, there would have been no opportunities. After their selection (special student sportspersons’) selection, there is their training, going for camps and other arrangements done by SOB. In school, we can only give them practice facilities but for their participation in Special Olympics there is no chance. It is due to the efforts of SOB under National Sports Director Victor Vaz this is possible,” he added.
Meanwhile for Nayer, athletics means everything. “I look at a future in the sport itself,” she asserted.
