A teenager in Bhagalpur district has lived up to her golden promise.

Minu Soren, a 14-year-old from Kirtiniya village in Bhagalpur's Pirpainty block, is an Under-17 javelin thrower. At an athletics meet in Haridwar last year, she came second to an Odisha girl and vowed to do better next time around. On Tuesday, during the 60th National School Sports in Ranchi, she struck gold.

Carmela Barla from Odisha's Sundargarh district had won the gold medal at the 12th National Inter-District Junior Athletics Meet last year with a 30.79m throw. Minu, the daughter of a daily wage earner, broke that record as well. Her throw was registered at 34.47m.

'Last year, I participated in the 12th National Inter-District Junior Athletics Meet and managed to win silver in javelin with a throw of 27.11m. I had promised myself to bag the gold medal and I have finally did it,' Minu, a Class VIII student of St Michael's School, Gokhla Mission, Pirpainty, told The Telegraph over phone from Ranchi on Wednesday.

The National School Sports has been organised by the School Games Federation of India.

The teenager is not one to rest on her laurels though. She wishes to contest international events. 'I still have three years to win international tournaments in the U-17 category,' she added.

Her coach at the state government-sponsored Eklavya state residential coaching institute has complete trust in her abilities to do so too. But he stressed unless youths like Minu received state support and sponsorships, it would be difficult for them to maintain their performances.

The Eklavya state residential coaching institute is responsible for the uplift of talented sportspersons in the rural areas. It has a unit on the St Michael's premises.

Rajiv Lochan, the coach who went with Minu to Ranchi, said: 'The government, through the Eklavya centres, provides each youth a stipend of Rs 3,000 a month for a proper diet. But is it possible for an athlete to have four square meals a day with this amount?'

Minu's father, Man Singh Soren, works in a stone-crushing unit in Jharkhand's Sahebganj district, around 1km from the village and 80km east of Bhagalpur district headquarters. She has three older brothers. Her father, she said, somehow manages to meet her dietary requirements with his limited resources.

'My father works hard for the family and supports me wholeheartedly. My school principal Sister Lucia is a huge source of support as well,' said the teen.

Another girl from the same institute, Gloria Tudu, last year created a record in the Sub-Junior National Inter-District Athletics Meet (again in Ranchi) by clocking 100m in 13.17 seconds.

Coach Lochan also spoke highly of Minu's school authorities. He appreciated the institution management for supporting talents such as Minu and Gloria.

Last year, The Telegraph in its January 21 edition had reported the success story of Gloria (Race for survival after glorious win). Then too sports lovers in the area had expressed their doubt about Gloria's dream of becoming a national champion considering her weak financial background. Her father, Abraham Tudu, also works at a stone-crusher unit in Sahebganj and manages to arrange two square meals for his family.

Referring to both the talented youngsters, coach Lochan said: 'These girls have a lot of potential. All they need is some proper care.'

Members of the Bhagalpur District Athletics Association demanded government intervention to ensure talented sportspersons like Minu and Gloria got their due.