Father is a bicycle mechanic, daughter wins gold; The story of the struggle told on ABP

Asmita Dey Share Story with ABP: India won a gold medal in Judo for the first time in Commonwealth Games 2026. Asmita Dey, a native of Tripura, won a gold medal in the 48KG category of judo, creating history. Despite her father being a cycle mechanic, Asmita did not let her financial constraints come in the way and brought laurels to the country. Asmita Dey, who created history by winning gold at the CWG, had an exclusive conversation with ABP News Consultant Ravish Bisht

Question: First of all, many congratulations on winning the Gold medal. You are now a Gold Medalist at the Commonwealth Games. How are you feeling?

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Asmita Day: feels great. When I left for Glasgow, I had decided that I have to return only after winning the gold medal. That was my dream and goal. Now that dream has been fulfilled, I am very happy. However, I don't consider this to be my destination. This was just one goal, I still have a long way to go.

Question: Many athletes come out of the North East in boxing, weightlifting and other sports, but how did you choose judo?

Asmita De: The story of this is very interesting. My elder father called my father and told him that trials were going on at a sports school in Agartala. He said that I should be sent there. I went for the trial and I was selected. I was about 11-12 years old at the time. From there, my inclination towards judo grew, and slowly I decided to pursue a career in this sport

Question: How did you prepare for the Commonwealth Games?

Asmita Day:  I went to Germany and trained. I practiced high level there for a long time, which improved both my technique and fitness a lot. After returning from Germany, he continued his training in India as well. It is the result of that hard work that I could win a Gold in the Commonwealth Games.

Q: Judo is still not considered a big sport in India. How did you get the belief that you could win a gold medal?

Asmita De: This confidence came from my hard work and self-belief. I was confident in my preparation. I felt that no matter who the player was in front of me, if I gave my best, I could beat him. My training went very well and that gave me confidence

Q: The match against the Canadian in the final was very exciting. You were trailing in the opening round. Then how did you make a comeback?

flipped to the sound of the coach

bet Asmita De: Yes, I was running behind in the beginning and at one point I felt like I might lose the gold medal. That's when my coach kept shouting at me, 'Asmita, you can win. Don't think about losing, we have to win the gold.'

Listening to him, I felt a different sense of confidence. I started scoring points consistently. For four minutes, both the points were tied. After this, the match went to the Golden Point, where whoever scores the first point becomes the winner. Luckily I made the next point and this is how I won the gold medal.

Question: Who did you first call after winning the gold?

Asmita De: The first thing I called my mother was. But that was the moment I missed my dad the most. He passed away in December. My dad was a bicycle mechanic, but he always motivated me to keep going. Had he been here today, he would probably be the happiest><

Question: Now what's the next goal? The Asian Games will also have players from strong nations like Japan and South Korea><

Asmita De: I have already started preparing for the next goal. I have beaten some of the top players from Japan and South Korea before. So my full focus will be on my training and not on my opponent. If I maintain my preparation, I am confident that I can win a medal for India in the Asian Games as well