The Manipur-born rider, now representing Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) at the Khelo India University Games Rajasthan 2025, turned to cycling relatively late after spending her junior years playing Sepak Takraw.
Remarkably, there is little time for celebration or reflection. Barely two days after the competition in Bikaner, Rajyashree and her mother will return to the platform once again, competing at the ongoing ASMITA Weightlifting League in Kolkata on November 28.
The achievement carried a weight far heavier than her competition total. On July 24, 2020, returning home from training, Rinki’s life changed in an instant when she found that her father, Niladri Nayak, had taken his own life.
