Lalita Babar

Lalita Babar is a well-known Indian long runner Athlete. She was born on 2 June 1989 in Mohi, Satara, Maharashtra. She is from a farmer’s family. At a young age, Lalita started her career as a long-distance runner. She became the hat trick winner of the Mumbai Marathon in 2014. After winning the marathon, Lalita upgraded to the 3000m steeplechase and won the bronze medal at 9:35.37 in the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea. In the 2015 Asian Championship, she won the gold medal clocking 9:34.13. She keeps breaking her records by clocking 9:27.86 in the 2015 World Championship in Beijing. In 2016, she made the national record by clocking 9:27.09  at the Federation Cup National Athletics Championships.

In the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, she became the first Indian in 32 years to reach the finals with a record of 9:19.76. She represented India in the Asian Games (2014) in Incheon, South Korea, and the 2015 Asian Championship in Wuhan for the 3000m steeplechase. Lalita was honored with various awards for her contribution to sports. She received the Sports Person of the Year Award (2015) from FICCI and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. She also received the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2016 from the Government of India.
She is also a Tahsildar of Manegaon district, Maharashtra.