Parul Chaudhary (Athlete)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Parul Chaudhary

• Parul Chaudhary is an Indian athlete who is known for taking part in track and field sports including long-distance running. She specialises in 5000 metres and 3000 metres steeplechase. She is the first Indian runner to complete the women’s 3000m in under 9 minutes. In October 2023, she won a gold medal in the 5000 m event and silver in the 3000 m steeplechase at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

• She belongs to the Jhajj gotra.

• When she was in school, she used to run barefoot and took part in the first 800 meters in 2011 in school.

• She never planned on becoming an athlete and took up the sport when her father asked her to participate in a school race. In an interview, she said that in that race, she participated without any preparation. In an interview, her father talked about this and said,
  

  I was planning to go watch the sports meet at her school. I told Parul to participate. There was no plan, it was just a suggestion from a father to his daughter. I had no clue she would represent India in athletics and reach the final of a World Championships.”

• In an interview, her brother said that after her race in school, she used to run in the sugarcane fields, the main road and then back to the village. She used to run with her sister who had also participated in the school race with her.

• Both the sisters used to win many medals and there was a little tension when they came home after winning. Parul used to come first and Preeti second, so she used to get upset about it.

• According to her mother, Parul was very chubby when she was a child. She was heavy to carry but when she started running, she got fit. In an interview, her mother said that when they used to practice, their neighbours passed many sexist comments on them but their father did not listen to them and supported them a lot. Her mother also added that when her daughters started winning the medals, people still did not stop talking about them.

• After her participation in the 800 meters, she started participating in 1500 m and 3000 m. Later, she switched to 5000 m and competed in it professionally. She trains at the training base in Colorado Springs.

• In 2015, when she shifted to Mumbai, she got a job in Western Railways. She has worked as a ticket examiner at Grant Road station.

• In 2019, she made her personal best of 15:36:03 in 5000 m at the Asian Athletics Championship in Doha.

  

• In May 2023, she clocked a new personal best of 9:29.51 at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix.

• Parul clocked 9:38.76 in the Asian Athletics Championships in Thailand to clinch the Asian title in July 2023.

• In August 2023, she registered a personal best time and national record in the 3000m steeplechase at 9:15.31 at the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest. The record helped her qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

• In an interview, Parul said that if she had been in the village, she would have been married at an early age. In the interview, she added that people in the village think that girls should not play wearing shorts and many of them pass comments if they see girls wearing shorts and running.

• According to Parul, her only aim was to get a government job and then quit the sport. When she joined the railways in 2015, she did not take her kit with her but when Diana Edulji, the former India women’s captain and railways veteran advised her to focus on running, Parul took part in the Open National and came fourth. In 2016, she won a gold medal in an inter-railway meet in Hyderabad. After winning a gold medal, she decided to continue running.

• Parul achieved a new national record in the women’s 3000-meter event at the Sunset Tour in Los Angeles in 2022, breaking Suriya Loganathan’s six-year-old record.

• In July 2022, she completed the women’s 3000m event in 8:57.19, surpassing Loganathan’s national record of 9:04.5.

• She has been in the top 8 Asian Championship list twice.

• She is a 5 times national champion.