TOMAR Alka < Back  
Sport Wrestling - Freestyle
CGA India   
Gender Women
Born 01 Dec 1983 in Meerut, IND
Height1.62 m
Weight 59 kg
Human Interest
Sport Specific Information
Club / Team Uttar Pradesh: India
Further Personal Information
Higher education Physical Education - Noida University: India
General Interest
Injuries She missed out on competing at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games due to injury. (jagrancityplus.com, 15 Jul 2010)
Famous relatives Two of her brothers are state level wrestlers. (indiatimes.com, 05 Jun 2009)
Most influential person in career She devoted her Arjuna Award to her coach, Jabar Singh. "Whatever I have achieved in my career is because of my teacher Jabar Singh Som. I would devote this Arjuna Award to my teacher who played a very meaningful role in my life," she said. (jagrancityplus.com, 15 Jul 2010)
Ambitions To compete and win a medal at the Olympic Games. (indianexpress.com, 24 Feb 2010)
Awards and honours She received the Arjuna Award in 2007 from the Indian President, in recognition of her outstanding sporting achievements. (photodivision.gov.in, 29 Aug 2008)
Sport Specific Information
Name of coach Jabar Singh Sohan
Coach from what year? 1998
When and where did you begin this sport? She started wrestling at age 6.
Coach from which country? India
General Interest
Other information WORKING
She wrestles for Indian club Uttar Pradesh but works for MTNL in Delhi, a telecommunications company. She regrets that UP wrestlers have to look for jobs outside of their home state. "Despite belonging to UP, I am working with MTNL, Delhi. It is a pity that UP wrestlers get jobs elsewhere but there are no offers from their home state. Perhaps here the state government feels that its duty ends with the bestowing of rewards for our accomplishments.” (indianexpress.com, 24 Feb 2010)

WRESTLING WITH THE BOYS
As a child she used to wrestle with the boys of her village Sisauli, near Meerut, and "took the jibes of village boys and elders in her stride and has now become a trendsetter," according to the Times of India. Her father even cut off her hair so she would have a more boyish look, which her mother protested. "Like others in my village, I was also against sending my girl to the akharas [wrestling arenas]," her mother said. (indiatimes.com, 05 Jun 2009)