Budhia wants to win Olympic gold

Jaipur: Orissa's marathon miracle Budhia Singh, who has run a distance of 65 kilometres non-stop, said on Wednesday he cherished a dream to earn an Olympic gold medal for the country.

"My dream is to bring honours to my country by winning the Olympic gold medal in future and I am striving all out for it," the four-and-half-year-old said after being given the first 'Ambassy Little Star' award by Ambassy Millennium School.

Budhia, who also featured in the Limca Book of Records following his unique feat, was brimming with confidence after demonstrating his skills by running around the Central Park unexhausted in front of students five time his age.

"They were all running behind me," he said later.

Budhia denied being tortured by his coach Biranchi Das, who is accused of making him perform beyond his capacity.

"He takes good care of me and does everything related to his health and diet," he said.

About his diet, Budhia said "besides the staple food rice, I eat raw eggs, milk, bananas, papaya, dates and cashews in my daily diet to keep myself fit."

Doctors had suggested Budhia a controlled running, saying it could adversely affect his health.

However, Das said Budhia underwent regular medical examination and his health parameters were perfect. There was no cause of any adverse effects on his health, he said.

Das also said since Budhia was under-age to be admitted to a school and so had plenty of time for his training.

"He does regular yoga, swimming and running practice. He runs about an hour covering nearly 10 kilometres."

Asked about discovering Budhia's talent, Das recalled, "Budhiya used to come to watch judo practice and once used abusive language on some children. I was annoyed and punished him to run around the campus.

"In the evening, when I returned I was wonderstruck to see that Budhia was still running, for more than eight hours.

"Then I decided to tap the potential of the child. I spoke to his mother to adopt him and she accepted the offer after I paid Rs 800."

Budhia is a cricket fan and swears by Mahendra Singh Dhoni like any child of his age. "I like cricket and my favourite player is Dhoni," he said.

Budhia said, "I watch Oriya films and sometimes I see Hindi films."

Das said Budhia was also a celebrity now.

"Once when we were in Mumbai, Shahrukh Khan called us to meet him but Budhia was reluctant to meet because he had returned from his running practice."