Leakzes Angmo is the lone woman cyclist in the tiny contingent of Ladakh. Back home, in a village called Nurla Yokmappa Stalam, she is already a celebrity.
After winning the first medal for her proud Union Territory -- a glittering silver-- in the Khelo India Youth Games here, she can expect a hero's welcome on her return.
But a day before her 20 km Individual Road Time Trial, Leakzes was downcast and had all but given up hope of securing a medal.
"I froze when I saw the equipment of my co-competitors. My cycle seemed outdated in front of theirs. Most of them had carbon discs on their wheels," Leakzes explained, conceding a marked handicap.
But just before the race, she somehow managed to borrow a set of wheels from another cyclist and sped away to glory.
"Each of these carbon discs costs Rs 1 lakh. I can't afford them," she confessed. "Every international cyclist now uses them. It allows them to conserve a lot of critical energy. If I had a properly equipped cycle, I could have got a better result," she added after clinching the silver behind Karnataka's Chaitra Borji.
In her 15th year, the Cycling Federation of India came calling with a competitive event, changing her life forever.
"My parents (father Ishey Dawa and mother Rigzin Yangdol) encouraged me to participate in it. A year later, I was selected to join the SAI Academy in New Delhi," she said, narrating the sequence of events.
"I was surprised to receive the letter after such a long time. But my parents were thrilled and my journey in the sport commenced,'' she explained.
"It was a new world for me. Most importantly, I was amused when I got the first feel of a competitive cycle. It was stunningly lighter than the bulky one in my village. It took me months to adjust to its lightness," she laughed.
It wasn't long before Leakzes started delivering results, though. In her first National track cycling championship, she even secured a gold medal. "We celebrated my victory in a very big way in my village.''
Her big moment, however, came in the presence of her parents, when she raced away to the gold in the Ultimate Ladakh Cycling Championship in 2020.
( With inputs from ANI )
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