Saraswati Dey-Saha (born 23 November 1979) is an Indian former track and field

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

er from

Chittamara, Belonia Chittamara is a Village in South Tripura district in the Indian state of Tripura, located in the UTC 5.30 time zone and it follows Indian standard time (IST). Chittamara sun rise time varies -36 minutes from IST. The vehicle driving side in Ch ...

Tripura. She holds the current

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

national record of 22.82 seconds set at the National Circuit Athletic Meet held in Ludhiana on 28 August 2002. 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. The highlight of her career was the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

she won at the 2002 Busan Asian Games. Rachita represented India in 4×100 metres relay together with

P. T. Usha Pilavullakandi Thekkeraparambil Usha (born 27 June 1964) is a retired Indian track and field athlete. She was born in Kuthali, Kozhikode, Kerala. She has been associated with Indian athletics since 1979. She has won 4 Asian gold medals and 7 S ...

, E. B. Shyla, and Rachita Mistry at the

1998 Asian Championships in Athletics The 12th Asian Championships in Athletics were held in Fukuoka, Japan in July 1998. Medal summary Men Women Medal table See also * 1998 in athletics (track and field) External linksGBR Athletics {{asian athletics champs Asian Athlet ...

where her team won the gold medal on way to setting the current national record of 44.43 s. Later in the

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

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. She also competed in 200 m at

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, where she clocked a time of 23.43 s in the heats. In 2002, she was conferred the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

for her contribution to the Indian athletics. Saraswati quit competitive athletics in July 2006 owing to the injury to her Achilles tendon, occurred after the

Busan Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games ( ko, 2002년 아시아 경기대회/2002년 아시안 게임, Icheoni-nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheoni-nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the XIV Asian Games ( ko, 제14회 아시아 경기대회/제14회 아시안 � ...

National titles

* All-India Open National Championships **100 metres: 2000, 2002, 2003 **200 metres: 2002, 2003

International competitions

References

External links

* * 1979 births Living people Sportswomen from West Bengal Sportswomen from Tripura Indian female sprinters 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people Olympic athletes for India Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Asian Games Recipients of the Arjuna Award Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Olympic female sprinters Asian Athletics Championships winners {{India-athletics-bio-stub