LUCKNOW, June 3 -- A long injury layoff, five appearances in national and international events and a podium finish in all five events, bagging four golds and a silver sums up the sterling performance of young sprinter Rupal Chaudhary who now aims to continue her form in many more big events, including the World Championships at Tokyo later this year. Meerut's Rupal lit the recently concluded Asian Athletics Championship on fire, winning two golds and a silver medal, underlining her dominance on the tracks of the Gumi Civic Stadium in South Korea. She won gold medals in the mixed 4x400m relay and 4x400m women's relay before winning a silver medal in the women's 400m race. Two others from Uttar Pradesh namely Gulveer Singh of Aligarh and Parul Chaudhary of Meerut too won two medals each, depicting the strength of Uttar Pradesh athletes at the Asian level in style. While Gulveer won gold in men's 1000m and 5000m, Asian Games medallist Parul bagged silver in women's 3000m steeplechase and 5000m race. In team events, the quartet of Santosh Kumar, Rupal Chaudhary, Vishal and Subha Venkatesan clinched the gold medal in the mixed 4x400m relay race, while Rupal and Subha were also part of the women's team which bagged gold in 4x400m race alongside Jisna Mathew and Rajitha. In fact, this wasn't easy for Rupal, who stayed away from the track for almost one-and-a-half years in the last season after sustaining an injury in Meerut. She was well taken care of by the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports and it was followed by a strenuous training under the watchful guidance of Jamaican Jason Dawson at the national camp at Thiruvananthapuram since this March. "It's all because of Jason who not only trained me to do well at the Asian Championship, but also encouraged me to win back-to-back golds at the national championships a few months ago," said Rupal on Monday soon after reaching her home at Shahpur Jainpur village in Meerut. "I knew it was tough after a long injury lay-off, but I was determined to make a podium finish in all events since I have staged a comeback on the tracks," added Rupal, who had clocked 52.55 seconds to win the gold in the women's 400m run during the National Federation Senior Athletics Championship at Kochi before clinching her second gold in the season at the 6th Indian Open 400m event at Thiruvananthapuram this March. "It's something very inspirational when you restart after a long injury layoff and win back-to-back gold medals in domestic championships. Three medals at the Asian Championship have now boosted my confidence further and now I am aiming for yet another podium finish at the upcoming World University Games at Berlin in Germany next month," said Rupal. "My hands are full with events this year and I am also aiming for a podium finish at the World Athletics Relays at Guangzhou this May and at the Continental Tour too," she added. Rupal, however, said her ultimate target is to make a podium finish at the World Championship this September, but she isn't in a hurry as the qualifying standards are very high (50 seconds) and she is taking small-small steps to achieve the goal. "I can clock within the 50 seconds time, but that would be a risky affair right now as I will slow down after achieving this, so I am not in a hurry and going forward to execute my plans with small steps," Rupal added. At the 2022 World U-20 Athletics in Cali, Colombia, Rupal had a silver in 400m relay event before winning an individual bronze in the 400m and those medals brought a big change to her life. "Those medals also made me realise my real potential. Being the first timer, I was a bit nervous, but I didn't see other athletes of the world and I just ran for a podium finish in relay," she said. Before getting injured, Rupal had qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but she couldn't go there as she fell ill. That was really a big setback to her dream of winning a medal at the Olympics, especially after winning twin medals at Under-20 Worlds in 2022....