Hoto: Twitter An haife shi a cikin 1960 kuma ya fito daga Ottathai, gundumar Kannur ta Kerala, Manathoor Devasai Valsamma, wanda aka sani da MD Valsamma, ɗan wasan Indiya ne mai alfahari da ya yi ritaya a yau. Ita ce macen Indiya ta farko da ta samu lambar zinare a wani taron kasa da kasa da aka gudanar a kasar Indiya, kuma mace ta biyu 'yar Indiya bayan Kamaljeet Sandhu da ta samu lambar zinare a daidaikunsu a gasar Asiya. Lokacin da ta yi rikodin dakika 58.47 a tseren mita 400 a filin wasa na Jawaharlal Nehru, Delhi ya kai ta lashe lambar zinare a wasannin Asiya na 1982. Dan wasan ya zama zakara na kasa da wannan sabon tarihin wanda ya fi na Asiya!
Valsamma ta kasance cikin wasanni tun lokacin karatunta amma ta kasance da gaske kuma ta fara aiki a matsayin sana'a ne bayan ta tafi karatu a Kwalejin Mercy, Palakkad, Kerala. Ta lashe lambar yabo ta farko ga jihar a gasar tseren mita 100 da kuma wasan wasan pentathlon, wasan motsa jiki da ya kunshi haduwa daban-daban guda biyar - tururuwa na mita 100, tsalle mai tsayi, harbin bindiga, tsalle mai tsayi da gudu mita 800. Kyautar farko ta rayuwarta ta shiga gasar Inter-University Championship, Pune a cikin 1979. Ba da daɗewa ba, ta shiga cikin layin dogo na Kudancin Indiya kuma an horar da ta a ƙarƙashin A. K. Kutty, fitaccen kocin 'yan wasa wanda aka ba shi lambar yabo ta Dronarcharya Award a 2010.
A farkon aikinta na wasanni, Valsamma ta lashe lambobin zinare biyar saboda rawar da ta taka a tseren mita 100, tururuwa na mita 400, shimfidar mita 400 da mita 400, da kuma gudun mitoci 100 a Inter-State Meet, Bangalore a 1981. Wannan gagarumar nasara ya jagoranci ta zuwa kungiyoyin kasa da kuma cikin layin dogo. A shekarar 1984, a karon farko, tawagar mata hudu na Indiya sun shiga wasan karshe a gasar Olympics ta Los Angeles, kuma Valsamma na daya daga cikinsu, tare da P.T. Usha da Shiny Wilson. Amma Valsamma ba ya cikin kyakkyawan tunani kafin gasar Olympics, saboda rashin kwarewar 'yan wasa na kasa da kasa. Bugu da ƙari, an share kocinta Kutty a makare, wanda ya haifar da ƙarancin lokaci don yin aiki kuma ya shafi shirye-shiryen tunaninta. An yi wasan kwaikwayo da dama kafin gasar Olympics tsakaninta da P.T. Usha, wanda ya yi tsanani a kan waƙoƙin, amma abokantakar da suke da ita ta amfanar da su wajen kiyaye jituwa da mutuntawa har ma a lokutan wahala. Kuma Valsamma ta yi farin cikin ganin Usha ta tsallake rijiya da baya a tseren mita 400, yayin da ta samu waje a zagayen farko da kanta a gasar Olympics. Musamman ma, ƙungiyar ta sami matsayi na bakwai a cikin matsalolin mita 4X400 a taron.
Daga baya, Valsamma ta fara mai da hankali kan matsalolin mita 100 kuma ta ci gaba da yin wani rikodin kasa a gasar wasannin kasa ta farko a shekarar 1985. A cikin harkokin wasanni da ta shafe kusan shekaru 15, ta ci lambar zinare, azurfa, da tagulla a gasar Spartakiad 1983, ta Kudancin Asiya. Federation (SAF) don abubuwan wasanni daban-daban guda uku. Ta halarci gasar cin kofin duniya da aka yi a Havana, Tokyo, London, bugu na Wasannin Asiya na 1982, 1986, 1990 da 1994 a cikin dukkan waƙoƙi da filayen Asiya. Ta bar tarihinta a kowace gasa ta hanyar lashe lambobin yabo da dama.
Gwamnatin Indiya ta bai wa Valsamma lambar yabo ta Arjuna a shekarar 1982 da kuma lambar yabo ta Padma Shri a shekarar 1983 saboda gagarumar gudunmawar da ta samu a fagen wasanni. Ta kuma samu kyautar tsabar kudi ta G. V. Raja daga Gwamnatin Kerala. Irin wannan tafiya Valsamma ta kasance a cikin wasannin guje-guje, labari mai ban sha'awa har zuwa yau, don tabbas ta sanya Indiya alfahari!
Kara karantawa: Haɗu da Padma Shri Geeta Zutshi, Tsohuwar Ƙwararriyar Ƙwararrun Ƙwararrun Ƙwararrun Ƙwararrun Ƙwararrun Ƙwararru
