Chamba’s remote Reta village has found a place on the Asian Games map, with its daughter Seema Kumari winning a historic bronze medal in the women’s 10,000-m race at Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Thursday.Seema clocked 32 minutes 50.05 seconds to finish third in a fiercely contested race, giving India its first athletics medal at the Asian Games and ending the country’s 16-year wait for a medal in the women’s 10,000-m event.Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi won the gold medal with a time of 32:39.18, while Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka took silver in 32:41.54. Seema, who was among the leaders in the initial stages, slipped back during the middle part of the race but mounted a strong comeback in the final laps to secure the bronze.Her achievement is only the third Asian Games medal for India in the women’s 10,000 m. The previous Indian medals came at the 2010 Asian Games, where Preeja Sreedharan won gold and Kavita Raut secured silver.The Chamba athlete will now compete in the 5,000 m event two days later, carrying heightened expectations after her historic podium finish.For Seema Kumari, the Asian Games medal marks the culmination of a remarkable journey that began amid hardship in the hills of Chamba. She lost her father when she was just 12 years old, after which her family depended largely on farming and cattle rearing for survival.In her early days as a runner, Seema did not even have proper running shoes. Her talent was first noticed in school competitions, from where she progressed to district and state-level events.A major turning point came in 2015 when she was selected for the Sports Authority of India hostel in Dharamsala. Access to professional coaching and better training facilities helped her transition to the national athletics circuit. That year, she won gold in the Junior National Athletics Championships in Ranchi.Seema subsequently established herself as a promising distance runner, setting junior national records in the 2,000-m and 3,000-m events and winning national titles. She also became part of the Khelo India programme in 2018.Her rise to the international stage was marked by another test of determination. When she qualified for the Asian Youth Championships in Bangkok, her mother reportedly broke a fixed deposit to meet her participation expenses. Seema returned with a bronze medal, opening the door to a successful international career. She later won silver at the 2018 Youth Asian Olympics Qualifying Games.In 2024, she underlined her credentials by winning gold in 10,000-m event at the 17th Asian Cross Country Championships in Hong Kong.Before the Asian Games, Seema’s personal best in the 10,000-m race stood at 32:02.43.After her bronze-medal performance, Seema said her next target was the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. She said the Asian Games medal was not a reason to slow down and that she would work harder with the aim of winning an Olympic medal for India.From running without proper shoes in a remote Chamba village to standing on the Asian Games podium, Seema Kumari has turned a childhood marked by hardship into a landmark achievement for Himachal Pradesh and Indian athletics.