THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Arathi R almost quit sports, twice that is. But now she beams, all proud of having proved her mettle. When she breasted the tape at the 400m senior girls, earning a gold medal, she herself was surprised. It was after a major hiatus that she was hitting the racetrack. “It is not about the medals, but about bettering my time,” an excited Arathi says, basking in the glory of a gold medal in 400m senior girls and a silver medal in the 400 m hurdles.
A plus one student of Mar Basil HSS Kothamangalam, Arathi’s journey to success has an interesting back story. It was a stress fracture injury she sustained on her left leg in the ninth standard that made her take the first break from the racetrack. It was a time when everything was going well for her. She had even qualified for the nationals in 800m. The injury made her ‘quit’ sports. But for her, severing the bond with sports was not easy. After three months she was back on the track with race walking, earning accolades. But then again, when she was relegated to the fourth position at the state schools sports championship in 2017, she packed her bags and left for home. It was the end of her sports career, or so she made herself believe. “I was so depressed,” she recalls.
But five months ago, she discovered hurdles, and that changed everything. “My PE teacher Shiby and coach Anandu S encouraged me to come back,” she says. And after a hiatus and with just months of training, she entered the racetrack this year, pocketing the gold and silver medals.
All these years, she was never in the limelight and is amused at this new attention people are showering her with. Sports is not the only field she excels in. She is as good in academics too, having aced the tenth standard examination with A plus in all subjects.“I come from a family that has no background in sports. I had never thought of making sports my career. I wanted to be an advocate. But now, this is it for me. My dream is to make my mark in the international milieu,” Arathi animatedly adds. “My next target will be in setting a record in the 400m hurdle. My timing this time was 1:03 seconds, I want to make it 1 minute next time,” she adds ahead of the 800m senior girls event.