Abitha Mary Manuel. It has been just a week since the state started hearing this name. But the 17-year old athlete from Usha School of Athletics has enough in store to become a hot topic of discussion in the coming years.
She launched herself into national attention with a medal-winning effort in the 800 m in the recent Commonwealth Youth Games held at Samoa. She took bronze in her first-ever international meet, that too by setting a new national youth record. Incidentally, she bettered the old record in the name of another P T Usha ward, Jessy Joseph. Her timing of 2.07.33 seconds at a young age holds plenty of promise.
Abitha’s natural affinity to sports is derived from her father Manuel, who used to be a state level basketball player. Like most sporting fathers, Manuel, a farmer, also wished his daughter became one of his ilk – a hoopster. Though she started learning the game early, she soon lost interest in it.
“My father is my inspiration in my life,” says Abitha.
“He is that interested in my sports activities, and it is his hard work which has brought me thus far. I started participating in athletics when I was in fourth standard at St Mary’s High School (at Kallanode in Kozhikode district). I used to compete in 100 and 200 m then, and shifted to 400 m when I reached the upper primary classes.”
Her father brought her to the selection trials at Usha School of Athletics in 2011. Though she had only a bronze medal in the sub-district level to show for at the time, the coach in Usha was quick to spot the potential in the girl.
“It is at Usha School of Athletics that I started to get proper training in athletics. I have improved enough to win national-level medals under her training in three years’ time,” says a delighted Abitha. In 2014, she claimed the state and national junior titles in the two-lap event. She also finished second in the national schools athletics among juniors.
“P T Usha told me that if I run the event in 2.07 seconds, there is a chance to win a medal in the Commonwealth Youth Games. I completed the first lap in 61.6 seconds, better than the planned time of 62 seconds. It was a close finish and I managed to win the third place in my first international meet itself,” she recounts.
While terming the legendary sprinter in Usha as her role model, she admits that she is also learning a lot from Tintu Luka, the senior 800 m runner from the same centre. Abitha, a Plus One student at the AMHSS, Poovambayi, is aware that her career goals have changed with an outstanding performance in an international meet. Her coach is also expecting more such performances from her latest star trainee in the future.
“Abitha has the talent to become another Olympian from the centre. She has performed like a senior athlete in the Commonwealth Youth Games. We are expecting outstanding performances from her in the 2020 and 2024 Olympics,” says Usha, outlining the long-term goal.
While Abitha’s mother Beena is a housewife, she also has a younger brother, Abhijith, in a family of four.