A 23-year-old girl from rural Madurai, V Revathi, a railway ticket collector is all set to participate in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, set to take place from 23rd July to 8th August 2021. Revathi will be taking part in the 4*400 mixed relay category and is an expected medal winner from India. At Patiala camp, she clocked the timing of 53.55 seconds during selection for the Olympics.
Qualifying for Olympics wasn't the biggest struggle she faced. Revathi lost her parents when she was young and was brought up by her grandmother in a humble house in Madurai. Revathi used to run barefoot as she was poor and could not afford shoes for running. It is correct to say that when you have the talent and passion to do something there is someone to recognize it. Revathi's coach spotted her hidden talent and adopted Revathi's family.
After this, she also set a record at the university level and won three medals in national events. In 2019 she came 4th at Doha Asian Games and missed a medal by a whisker. Revathi also participated in the World Championship. Later she suffered a knee injury, and it was very difficult for her to recover. She added that many coaches helped her, and her grandmother gave her support every time. Coach Kannan said-"when I saw her under the care of her grandmother at a small village after she lost her parents, I believed such people would have the talent and good health. I decided to train her as only such people coming from a humble background, I thought would listen to us and train".
Her grandmother has shown gratefulness towards the coach who's confidence and motivation made her say yes to her granddaughter. She also said-"They should bring laurels to India, the people here and all over the country. They should return bringing fame to the coach".
Tamil Nadu is sending 5 athletes from the state all, from humble backgrounds including Dhanalakshmi Sekar and Subha Venkatesan for the mixed 4*400 relay sporting event. Arokiya Rajiv and Naganathan Pondy will be representing India in the 4*400 men's relay.Also, the State Govt. will be granted a sum of 5 lakhs who all will be participating in the Tokyo Olympics.
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