Kerala: Ready for World Masters, race walker Haseena is breaking barriers

KANNUR: At 45, Hasina Aliambethu is shattering religious and gender boundaries to achieve her greatest dream. When the World Masters Athletics Championships begin in Sweden this August, the Dharmadam resident will be gunning for glory in the 20km race walk.

Hasina views her 40s as the best period of her life, pursuing dreams she couldn’t achieve in her youth. “In school, I was an active athlete, competing at the state level in sprints and long jump. But coming from an orthodox Muslim family, my father restricted further participation,” she says.

Her second innings in sports began in her late 30s when she took her son to football practice. “I was trying to achieve my dream through my son when he joined football coaching. But once on the ground, my dreams reignited. I started working out to regain my fitness and then began practising race walking and sprinting,” Hasina says. Currently working with the Assistant Educational Office in South Thalassery, her competitive journey started with service meets for government employees.

“In foreign countries, athletes don’t quit; they progress from junior meets to seniors’ and masters’ competitions as they age. In Sweden, I will be competing with Olympic veterans and world champions. It will be a dream come true,” she says.

Her son, former junior national football team goalkeeper Mohammad Shahad, is her biggest supporter and main coach. “Usually, parents motivate their children to perform well in competitions. For me, my son is my greatest supporter. I’m undergoing strenuous training sessions at the Thalassery Municipal Stadium and the Dharmadam Brennan Stadium under his guidance,” Hasina says.

This isn’t the first time Hasina is representing India internationally. She won three gold medals at the first Open International Masters Athletics Championships in Dubai in 2023. Earlier the same year, she became India’s best walker by winning gold in the women’s 5,000m at the National Open Masters in Kolkata. In the 2022 National Open meet in Baroda, Hasina won gold for Kerala in the women’s 3000m event, beating the national record holder.

Hasina cherishes a compliment from Prime Minister Narendra Modi after winning gold in the 5,000m race walk at the Asian Masters meet in Sri Lanka in 2019