<p>As the Karnataka-girl stood at the podium, all those moments when she ran bare-footed in the fields in Jansale near Siddapura village in Udupi, whizzed past her mind. Her hard work had paid off.<br /><br />On return, Ashwini could not believe her eyes when the entire village turned up to welcome her. The double gold medal has done a star turn for the 23-year-old.<br /><br />"Life has completely changed for me. It's not even a week that I have come back from Guangzhou, and the response that I have got from people has far exceeded my expectations," said Ashwini, who was also part of the 4X400 metre relay team that won gold at the Commonwealth Games.<br /><br />"I belong to a rural family and I have come up the hard way in life. To get such recognition, encouragement and love from people makes me feel proud. I have to continue doing the good work."<br /><br />"The welcome that I got from people back home in village in something I will never forget. I came to know that they were so happy seeing me win the gold medals. In fact, some of them were in tears. It means a lot to them," said Ashwini, whose father is a farmer.<br /><br />Of the two gold medals she won, Ashwini said the gold in the 400m hurdles was the most satisfying.<br /><br />"I started taking hurdles seriously just a month back. And the fact that I could beat a tough field comfortably means that I can do much better. To start with there are some technical aspects that I have to take care of. Because I am tall, I need to fine tune my technique to cross the hurdles," she said. <br /><br />"With the help of my coach (Yuri Ogorodnik of Ukraine), he has been a great motivator, I have been able to solve a lot of those problems and bring down my timing drastically which helped me to win the gold. I need to further bring down my timing. <br /><br />"I know that I can only improve from here. And the encouragement I have received has certainly boosted my confidence. I am now eyeing to give my best at London Olympics."<br />Ashwini, who was also part of the women's 4X400 metre relay comprising Menjeet Kaur, Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose, said there is an excellent camaraderie among them.<br /><br />"The team spirit was very high and it is one of the reasons why we could win gold in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games."<br /><br />"It is a good sign for Indian athletics. We have the potential to do better and win more medals for the country.</p>
<p>As the Karnataka-girl stood at the podium, all those moments when she ran bare-footed in the fields in Jansale near Siddapura village in Udupi, whizzed past her mind. Her hard work had paid off.<br /><br />On return, Ashwini could not believe her eyes when the entire village turned up to welcome her. The double gold medal has done a star turn for the 23-year-old.<br /><br />"Life has completely changed for me. It's not even a week that I have come back from Guangzhou, and the response that I have got from people has far exceeded my expectations," said Ashwini, who was also part of the 4X400 metre relay team that won gold at the Commonwealth Games.<br /><br />"I belong to a rural family and I have come up the hard way in life. To get such recognition, encouragement and love from people makes me feel proud. I have to continue doing the good work."<br /><br />"The welcome that I got from people back home in village in something I will never forget. I came to know that they were so happy seeing me win the gold medals. In fact, some of them were in tears. It means a lot to them," said Ashwini, whose father is a farmer.<br /><br />Of the two gold medals she won, Ashwini said the gold in the 400m hurdles was the most satisfying.<br /><br />"I started taking hurdles seriously just a month back. And the fact that I could beat a tough field comfortably means that I can do much better. To start with there are some technical aspects that I have to take care of. Because I am tall, I need to fine tune my technique to cross the hurdles," she said. <br /><br />"With the help of my coach (Yuri Ogorodnik of Ukraine), he has been a great motivator, I have been able to solve a lot of those problems and bring down my timing drastically which helped me to win the gold. I need to further bring down my timing. <br /><br />"I know that I can only improve from here. And the encouragement I have received has certainly boosted my confidence. I am now eyeing to give my best at London Olympics."<br />Ashwini, who was also part of the women's 4X400 metre relay comprising Menjeet Kaur, Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose, said there is an excellent camaraderie among them.<br /><br />"The team spirit was very high and it is one of the reasons why we could win gold in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games."<br /><br />"It is a good sign for Indian athletics. We have the potential to do better and win more medals for the country.</p>