14-year old Hashika from Karnataka has made waves in the best possible way by clinching six golds and one bronze at the recently concluded National Games in Gujarat. Hashika was adjudged the best female athlete – at her first National Games! In a country where women struggle to enter sports or even find spaces for personal fitness that are accessible and safe, Hashika is setting the benchmark. She lost her father to cancer in 2017 but channeled her emotions in a positive manner, according to her mother Latha. Her mother became a rock for her, selling land to pay for her classes.