Village girl gets gold medal - Fusion - WerIndia

The twenty-second Asian Athletics Championships of 2017 has recently taken place, featuring many unbelievable performances from some of the best athletes in the world.

Yet one of these performances stood out from the crowd: the twenty-two-year-old woman P.U. Chitra achieving her gold medal at the women’s 1,500-meter track event.

At only four minutes and 17.92 seconds, the woman from Kerala crossed the finish line first, hitting her own personal record despite the rainy weather.

Hailing from a humble background in the village of Mundur in the Palakkad district, Chitra’s amazing accomplishments last Friday have left a lasting inspiration on everyone.

Chitra comes from a family of four children in Mundur, with her parents simply earning the daily wage to keep them on their feet.

Therefore, she was absolutely elated about her winning performance. She did not expect to take home the gold, simply hoping to get a medal at best, and certainly did not expect to make a personal record in the process.

However, her gold Federation Cup will ensure that she makes it to the national squad, and she will soon be going to the World Championships in London.

Her performance has earned her the title “Queen of Asia in the mile”, and she attributes her accomplishments to her coach, Sijin N.S. He has been her trainer for almost ten years, beginning to teach her at Mundur Higher Secondary School, Chitra’s alma mater.

 

Sijin is ecstatic about her accomplishments in the Championships, and is looking forward to how she will fare in the London event. He says he is more than glad to have mentored someone who has now risen to the international level, despite the limited resources they had.

Now, along with O.P. Jaisha and Preeja Sreedharan, Chitra is the third Kerala woman that will represent India in the women’s 1,500-meter event in the World Championships.

Image Reference: TheBetterIndia, NewsNation