‘Even ₹10,000 Is Huge’: How Pooja Bishnoi Rode From a Bikaner Village to the KIUG 2025 Podium

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Jaipur, Nov 26: On a crisp Tuesday (November 25) morning along the Jaipur–Agra Highway, the golden light from the rising sun brushed the edge of the tarmac as racing bicycles sliced through the cold air.

Among them was 22-year-old Pooja Bishnoi, a farmer’s daughter from a tiny village in Bikaner, her bib marked “44”, her eyes fixed on the seemingly endless road ahead. For most athletes, it was another race. For Pooja, it was the culmination of years of struggle, small miracles, and relentless belief.

She was not supposed to be here, not by the standards of where she came from. And yet, by the end of the race, she had written herself into Rajasthan’s sporting history as the first medallist for the host state at the Khelo India University Games (KIUG) 2025. But her silver medal was only part of the story. The bigger victory was everything that had led her to this moment.

A Race That Became a Statement

The women’s Elite 30 km Individual Time Trial began with the explosive rush that characterises elite cycling. But it took only minutes for coaches and spectators to realise that one rider was rewriting the script. Pooja stormed into the lead in the first lap, her posture aerodynamic, her legs carving through the road with purpose. For the entire 10 km stretch of the opening lap, she was ahead of some of India’s most experienced cyclists.

Coaches exchanged looks of disbelief. Volunteers shouted split times with rising excitement. For a moment, every eye on the course was on the young woman from Bikaner who was defying expectations in real time.

Experience Takes Over, But a Hero Emerges

Yet cycling is a sport where experience often decides the podium. Riding for Guru Nanak Dev University, Meenakshi Rohilla, an international cyclist from SAI’s National Centre of Excellence, Patiala, with Asian Championships medals, began to close the gap.

By the final lap, her years of top-level competition showed. She surged ahead and claimed gold with a time of 45:31.907.

Pooja crossed the finish in 46:52.003 securing the silver medal, but earning something larger: admiration, respect, and a historic result for Rajasthan.

“Even ₹10,000 Is Huge for Girls Like Us”

When the dust settled and the cameras turned to her, Pooja smiled, open, honest, exhausted.

“I’m very happy with my result,” she said softly. “I was leading after the first lap, but Meenakshi is very experienced. I had done a 100 km race just two days ago, so I felt some fatigue. But winning the first medal for my university in our home state’s first KIUG means a lot.”

To understand the weight of her words, you have to understand her world. Pooja grew up in a household where money was scarce and opportunities scarcer. Her father worked the fields. Her mother managed the home. Cycling, an expensive sport even for middle-class families, was unthinkable for most girls in her village.

“For girls like me, coming from poor families, even ₹10,000 is huge,” Pooja says. “Buying a cycle, maintaining it, travelling… I often wondered if I had chosen the wrong sport.”

How Asmita Scholarship Kept Her Dream Alive

The turning point came when Pooja received support through the Asmita Scheme (Achieving Sports Milestones by Inspiring Women Through Action).

Over the past few years, she earned nearly ₹2 lakh through the scholarship - money that went directly into upgrading her equipment, paying for training camps, and travelling to national competitions.

“Asmita changed things for me,” she says. “It gave me confidence. It helped me stay in the sport.”

Her elder brother, a former cyclist himself, was the one who first pushed her into racing.

“He used to say, 'At least try. Don’t give up just because of money.’ I didn’t believe him in the beginning,” she laughs. “Now I do.”

A Symbol of Rural India’s Unseen Strength

On Tuesday, as cycling made its debut as a medal event at KIUG and Rajasthan hosted the Games for the first time, Pooja’s silver medal meant more than a podium finish.

It was symbolic. It was emotional. It was historic.

She became a face of what opportunity can create — and what determination can achieve. Her journey from Bikaner’s dusty roads to a national podium is now part of KIUG’s growing legacy of inclusivity and empowerment.

A Medal That Promises Many More

As she stood on the podium with the silver medal resting proudly on her chest, Pooja wasn’t thinking about fame or headlines. She was thinking about her family, her village, her brother who pushed her, and the countless girls who will see her story and dream a little bigger.

Her silver medal shone in the Jaipur sunlight — not just as a sporting achievement but as a promise: that India’s rural daughters are ready to race into national history, one determined pedal stroke at a time.