Meet Lieutenant (Lt) Khushali Purohit of the National Cadet Corps (NCC), who is posted at Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, and is the first female rider from Ahmedabad to complete the Brevet des Randonneurs Mondiaux (BRM). It is one of the world’s most challenging and prestigious cycling championships. She also won the title of Super Randonneur last year after she finished 200, 300, 400 and 600 kms in 40 hours in one calendar year.

Lt Purohit, 36, a cyclist, runner, and mountaineer, was also a part of Limca Book of Records as she had cycled from Kullu to Khardungla in 2013. In 2017, she participated in the Satara Hill Half Marathon and was named in the Guinness World Records.

Her eyes are on winning the Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) long-distance cycling event this year in August. “I have had to venture out by myself a lot during endurance cycling or running—often at nights. In my area, people look at me in a very weird way. I get a lot of comments too, which I ignore,” Lt Purohit shared.

“But women should still persist. In every sport, there aren’t many women. It’s the same for the sports activities that I am in now. Maybe there’s low awareness, or something is stopping them from coming forward. But they should,” she said. And even during competitions, when she is surrounded primarily by men, she never feels awkward or uncomfortable. “In fact, I feel like if men can do it, so can I. I compete with them,” she added.

Lt Purohit credits her parents as motivation for her success today, as they were the ones who pushed her, along with her twin sister and elder brother, to always cross boundaries and excel. Currently, she is teaching young NCC cadets – both boys and girls – and giving them “patriotic training” with a “character-building focus”.

H/T: Vice