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

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

sprinter from Chittamara, Belonia

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the ea ...

. 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 Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...

on 28 August 2002. She broke the previous mark held by

Rachita Mistry Rachita Mistry née Panda (born 4 March 1974) is an Indian professional sprinter from Odisha. She held the 100 metres national record of 11.38 seconds set at the National Circuit Athletic Meet held in Thiruvananthapuram on 12 August 2000 for 1 ...

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 she won at the 2002 Busan Asian Games. Rachita represented India in 4×100 metres relay together with P. T. Usha, E. B. Shyla, and

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 Athle ...

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 at

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 ...

her team - consisting of V. Jayalakshmi, Vinita Tripathi, and

- 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 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.

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