Saraswati Saha

Saraswati Saha
Personal information
Full name Saraswati Dey-Saha
Nationality  India
Born November 23, 1979 (1979-11-23) (age 32)
West Bengal, India
Height 1.54 m (5 ft 1⁄2 in)
Weight 53 kg (120 lb; 8.3 st)
Sport
Country India
Sport Running
Event(s) 100 metres, 200 metres
Club Indian Railways
Retired Yes
Medal record
Asian Games
Gold Busan Asian Games 200 metres
All-India Open National Championships[1]
Gold 2000 Championships 100 metres
Gold 2002 Championships 100 metres
Gold 2002 Championships 200 metres
Gold 2003 Championships 100 metres
Gold 2003 Championships 200 metres

Saraswati Dey-Saha (born 23 November 1979) is an Indian sprint athlete from West Bengal. She holds the current 200 metres National record of 22.82 seconds set at the National Circuit Athletic Meet held in Ludhiana on 28 August 2002.[2] She broke the previous mark held by Rachita Mistry since July 2000. In doing so, Saraswati became the first Indian woman to break 23-second barrier in 200 metres.[3] The highlight of her career was the Gold medal she won at the 2002 Busan Asian Games.[4]

Saraswati represented India in 4 x 100 metres relay at 2000 Sydney Olympics where her team - consisting of V. Jayalakshmi, Vinita Tripathi, and Rachita Mistry - clocked a time of 45.20 s in the first round. The team finished last in their heats.[5][6] She also competed in 200 metres at 2004 Athens Olympics where she clocked a time of 23.43 s in the heats.[7]

In 2002, she was conferred the Arjuna Award for her contribution to the Indian athletics.[8] Saraswati quit competitive athletics in July 2006 owing to the injury to her Achilles tendon, occurred after the Busan Asian Games.[9]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing  India
2000 Asian Championships Jakarta, Indonesia 2nd 100 m

References

  1. ^ "Indian Championships and Games". gbrathletics.com. http://www.gbrathletics.com/nc/ind.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-06. 
  2. ^ "Official Website of Athletics Federation of India: NATIONAL RECORDS as on 21.3.2009". Athletics Federation of INDIA. http://www.indianathletics.org/isr.php. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
  3. ^ "Saraswati breaks 23-second barrier". The Hindu. 2002-08-29. http://www.hindu.com/2002/08/29/stories/2002082905962100.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-03. 
  4. ^ "Saraswati Saha, Neelam J Singh win gold". indiaexpress.com. 2002-10-10. http://www.indiaexpress.com/news/sports/20021010-0.html. Retrieved 2009-10-03. 
  5. ^ "Sydney2000 Results: Official Results - 4 X 100 METRES - Women - Round 1". IAAF. http://www2.iaaf.org/OLY00/results/index.asp. Retrieved 2009-10-03. 
  6. ^ "Saraswati Dey-Saha - Biography and Olympics results". Sports Reference LLC. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/de/saraswati-dey-1.html. Retrieved 2009-09-03. 
  7. ^ "Olympic Games 2004 - Results 08-23-2004 - 200 Metres W Heats". IAAF. http://www.iaaf.org/history/oly/season=2004/eventcode=3201/results/racedate=08-23-2004/sex=W/discCode=200/combCode=hash/roundCode=h/results.html. Retrieved 2009-10-03. 
  8. ^ "Arjuna Awardees". Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. http://web.archive.org/web/20071225221945/http://yas.nic.in/yasroot/awards/arjuna.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-03. 
  9. ^ "Saraswati calls it quits". The Indian Express. 2006-08-01. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/saraswati-calls-it-quits/9738/#. Retrieved 2009-10-03. 

External links