Key Highlights
- A decade later and with solid backing from his trailblazing coach Bilquis Mir, who fought many uphill battles to sustain the sport in Srinagar, the now 18-year-old is headed in the right direction as he gears up to be on Kartavya Path this Republic Day.
- The lanky teenager from Srinagar’s Kand Mohalla, a hamlet within Dal Lake that houses “people of water”, will be on Jammu and Kashmir’s tableau during the January 26 parade, adding a sporting touch to the Union Territory’s identity that largely revolves around tourism.
- Although Mohsin has been an active competitor since 2018, his biggest moment came last year when he won the men’s 1000m kayaking race gold medal at the Government’s flagship Khelo India Water Games, drawing the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- “I am the first sportsperson in my family and all I want to do is to make the country proud with an Olympic medal at some point.
- I have won 17 medals so far in my career,” Mohsin told PTI over a telephonic interview in eager anticipation of his big moment on Monday “that will rank right up there” with the high he felt during a five-minute chat with Modi on ‘Mann ki Baat’ last year.