Jyoti Kumari, the 15-year-old girl who cycled down 1,200km carrying her ailing father during the nationwide lockdown, has declined the offer of the Cycling Federation of India for a trial next month.
"I wish to complete my studies first. I also feel physically weak now after such a long arduous journey," she said.
" I was told that I will get a call from CFI next month and I will tell them that I need a couple of months to be mentally and physically ready for the trial," she added.
Impressed with her sheer doggedness with which she pedalled her way to Bihar from Gurugram, carrying her ailing father, the cycling federation had said that if Kumari, a class 8 student, passed the trial, she would be selected as a trainee at the state-of-the-art National Cycling Academy at the IGI Stadium complex in Delhi.
The academy, under the aegis of Sports Authority of India, is one of the most advanced facilities in Asia and has the recognition of UCI, the world body of the sport.
Jyoti's father, Mohan Paswan, an autorickshaw driver in Gurgaon got injured and the lockdown left him without any source of income. He had to return the autorickshaw to the owner.
A tenacious Jyoti asked her father to sit on the rear side carrier of her cycle and took him to his native place, covering 1,200km in seven days.
The father and daughter duo started their journey from Gurgaon on May 10 and reached their village on May 16.
US President Donald Trump's daughter and senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump had praised Kumari, terming her act as a "beautiful feat of endurance and love".
"This beautiful feat of endurance & love has captured the imagination of the Indian people and the cycling federation!" Ivanka had said in a tweet.
With inputs from PTI
