Saraswati Saha, also known as Saraswati Dey-Saha, is recognized as a former Indian sprint athlete. Hailing from the Indian state West Bengal, she is the present national record holder of 200 metres with timing of 22.82 seconds which she made at the National Circuit Athletic Meet organized on 28th August 2002 in Ludhiana. She also broke the previous national record held since July 2000 by Rachita Mistry. For this, she is also credited as the first Indian woman to break the 23-second barrier in 200 metres. She was born on 23rd November 1979 in Belonia situated in Tripura.
Saraswati Saha"s career highlight includes the gold medal that she bagged at the 2002 Busan Asian Games. She also competed in 4 x 100 metres relay as the representative of India along with Rachita Mistry, E. B. Shyla and P. T. Usha at the 1998 Asian Championships in Athletics. In the event the team won the gold medal, also creating the current national record of 44.43 seconds. Subsequently at 2000 Sydney Olympics Saraswati Saha once again represented India in the 4 x 100 metres relay and her team comprised Rachita Mistry, Vinita Tripathi and V. Jayalakshmi. In the first round they clocked a time of 45.20 seconds. However they finished last in their heats.
At 2004 Athens Olympics Saraswati Saha competed in 200 metres and completed with a time of 23.43 seconds. In July 2006 she quit competitive athletics due to an injury to her Achilles tendon which she encountered after the Busan Asian Games. For her contributions to the arena of Indian athletics, Saraswati Saha has been honoured with the Arjuna Award in the year 2002.
This article is a stub. You can enrich by adding more information to it. Send your Write Up to [email protected]
