Jyotirmoyee Sikdar Biography

Jyotirmoyee Sikdar hailing from West Bengal was born in Debogram Village, Nadia District of the state of West Bengal in 1969. She was spotted at a very young age by her mentor Satyaram Roy. She created news in the national athletics arena by winning the 800-meter silver medal on her debut in the All India Open Meet in1992. In 1994, she consolidated her position by creating a new national record and winning the 1500 meters gold at the National Athletics Meet.

Present a Member of Parliament, Jyotirmoyee Sikdar was among the greatest athletes in the country during her sporting days. In 1995, she won the gold medal in the Asian Track and Field meet at Jakarta in Indonesia. Her contributions to Indian Athletics won her the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna for the year 1998-99.

She went for further training in Germany and proved her excellence by winning the gold medal in the 800 meters and 1500 meters event at the 1998 Asian Games. Thousands of people were present at the Kolkata Airport to welcome Jyotirmoyee on her victorious homecoming. A serious injury brought an early end to her career and she was forced to retire from athletics. She entered politics and was elected as the Member of Parliament in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.