IN INCHEON When Lalita Babar made the decision of quitting marathon to excel in steeplechase in January 2014, she was not just risking a settled career but also the financial stability that road running provided.

The prize money she earned from winning marathons had been a major source of income for the family of six that hailed from the drought-affected Maan taluka in Satara district. Toiling in the farms, they had a hand-tomouth existence until Babar, the eldest of the four siblings, started making a mark in cross-country races. She got a job in the Central Railways and shifted to Ghatkopar.

The 25-year-old, who completed a hat-trick of titles in the Mumbai Marathon in January this year, was determined to win a medal in multi-discipline events like the Asiad and Commonwealth Games and knew very well that she had to opt for a track event to achieve her goal.

Even national team coach Nikolai Snesarev of Belarus tried convincing her to stick to marathon but had to submit to her resolve of training for 3000m steeplechase. Well, the girl hasn’t looked back.

Babar, who ran barefooted till she was stopped from competing at a national level meet in 2005 and had only run an Inter-Railways steeplechase race last year, bagged India’s first track and field medal in the Asian Games. She finished third in the 3000m steeplechase ahead of defending champion and compatriot Sudha Singh.

“I always wanted to run the steeplechase event. But for years, marathons and cross-country tournaments were important for me and hence I continued to participate in them. But when I decided to prepare for the Asian Games, I had to make a choice between road running and track because road running affects your speed,” said Babar.

There was confusion over whether the Indian would end up getting a silver or a bronze. The judges had disqualified the eventual champion Ruth Jebet of Bahrain for going out of bound and then re-instated her after inferring that her error did not give her any undue advantage.

Babar thus had to settle for a bronze despite an attempt for an appeal against the verdict by the Indian Olympic Association. She insisted that there was no reason to complain since the Bahrain runner was well and truly superior.

“I am extremely happy to have broken the national record in my very first Asian Games and bagged a medal,” said a beaming Babar, who crossed the finish line at 9:35.37 sec to break Sudha’s national mark by almost 10 seconds. + Babar had also got the better of Sudha in the Federation Cup, which served as the selection tournament for the Asian Game.

She admitted that shifting to a track event was a financial risk. “I knew that if I don’t do well, it can affect my finances in the long run. Now that I have won a medal, I can do a lot with the cash prize that I will get from the state government. My first priority is to renovate the house for my parents,” she added.