A lifelong dream achieved for gold medal winner Humayra

Humayra Akhter in the -61kg category of karate won the gold medal in the South Asian Games at Nepal on Tuesday. She also won bronze on Monday, in the individual Kata event of karate.

Humayra defeated Nepal's Anu Gurang in her final bout to secure the gold. She won the gold medal match by 5-2 points.

In an instant reaction to her success, Humayra said it was a long-cherished dream and she had to sacrifice her studies in order to do well here.  

"From the very beginning of when I started learning karate I've always dreamt of winning a gold medal in the South Asian Games. It's hard to put into words the emotions I'm going through right now. I've had to sacrifice a lot for this. I have university exams and I missed them. I also couldn't give my medical exams because of this. I was at the training camp at that time. Maybe I could have been admitted to university this year so I couldn't fulfil that dream this year. But I will definitely try in the future," she said.

Humayra explained that seeing her other countrymen do so well in the event gave her the confidence to do well too.  

"After seeing Al Amin and Marzan (Ahktar Priya's) gold medals, I got inspired to do this. My self-belief increased that 'I can also do this'. I want to dedicate this win to the country. I was feeling nervous since yesterday ahead of the match and wondering if I had the ability to do this," she added.

Although there were nervousness and butterflies, the drive to make her country proud overtook her and helped inspire her to victory.

"When I got up on the mat, I thought of my county's flag and when the national anthem started playing, I wanted to lift my country's flag up high. In 2010, when I first saw us win a gold medal, I started to have dreams of winning a gold for my country," she explained

But she is also thankful to those who have helped her win the gold medal and admits that without their help and support, this would not have been possible.

"The success that I have behind the gold medal is not mine alone but has the hard work of a lot of people behind it. My parents, coaches and team officials all have their hard work behind this. They have all had big aspirations for me and they all kept faith in my abilities. So to have been able to repay their faith has made me very happy," she concluded.