KOTTAYAM: Olympic sprinter Chitra K Soman stepped into the family track as Sachin Bal, a Punjabi engineer working in Sydney, Australia, took her hands and tied the nuptial knot on Sunday.
The wedding bells rang at the end of a sixyearlong acquaintance between the duo, which had budded while Chitra went to the Australian shores to take part in an international event.
The wedding took place at the Mattakara High School, Chitra's alma mater, near her home, in the presence of some of her close friends, including her professional coaches, physical education teachers and women athletes. The groom, who flew in from Sydney, where he is employed as environmental engineer, is flying back immediately as he has to join duty.
Chitra, who has been sanctioned oneyear leave while serving as superintendent of ONGC in Dehradun, will follow suit and join Sachin. Sachin's elder brother and family are also settled in Sydney. Chitra, a twotime Olympic athlete in Athens and Beijing, holds the seventh rank in 400metres relay. She met Sachin, an avid sportslover, six years ago. They again met during the last Commonwealth Games in Delhi and decided to tie the knot.
Sachin, 30, wore the traditional Punjabi head gear, for the DDay while Chitra, was a typical South Indian damsel in sari and jasmine flower heaps on hair.
Her father Soman gave his daughter's hand to the groom while her mother Santha and only brother Rahul stood by.
Chitra said that she would continue her forte of athletics.