MADURAI: For 47-year-old C Thirugnanadurai from Usilampatti, it was a dream come true to take part in the Sydney Olympics 21 years ago, at the age of 26, in the 4x100 metres men’s relay. Thirugnanadurai, who is now a Train Ticket Examiner with the Madurai Division of Southern Railway, was the first sportsperson from the district to participate at the Olympic Games.
A native of Usilampatti in Madurai district, Durai, the second son of a government school teacher couple, wanted to become a sportsman since his school days. “Unaware that pursuing a course in physical education would not make one a sportsperson, I opted for BSc in Physical Education, Health Education and Sports at Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College in Sivakasi,” the Olympian said. It was at the college where coach K Murugavel spotted his potential as an athlete, which came as a surprise to Thirugnanadurai himself, as he used to be very lean, weighing less than 45 kg. “There was a time when I considered switching from athletics to pole vault due to repeated failures on the track. But, it was my coach who persuaded me to continue sprinting,” he said.
As he secured a job at Southern Railway as a Khalasi (Group D cadre), Thirugnanadurai quit pursuing his Masters in Physical Education at Loyola College in the first year. With the motivation of his coaches - Murugavel and AJ D’souza- the sprinter joined Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS) in Patiala. “An opportunity to sprint at an international sports meet at New Delhi in 1998 after a sprinter had to be dropped at the eleventh hour due to fever, made many heads turn and take notice of me as I finished first,” he said. Since then, Thirugnanadurai won medals and set records at national and international athletic events. In 2000, the sprinter qualified to represent the Indian contingent at the Sydney Olympics in the 4X100 metres men’s relay.
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“The Olympic Games is all about the roaring cheer from the audience. At the end of the race, despite the relay team failing to qualify in the pre-quarters selection, I was content that I gave my personal best. Undeterred by the early exit, I only became determined to win a medal in the 2004 Olympics,” recalled Thirugnanadurai. After being diagnosed with bone injuries in 2002, he was medically advised to quit sprinting, and became an athletic coach at NSNIS in Bengaluru and Patiala.
Speaking about the State government’s recognition given to Olympians, he said, “While four athletes (Rajiv Balakrishnan, Ramachandran, Thiruganandurai and Jayalakshmi) from Tamil Nadu were part of the Olympic squad to Sydney, only Jayalakshmi who hailed from Mannargudi was given due recognition by the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa as she was Tamil Nadu’s first woman athlete to become an Olympian. No recognition was given to the others by the Tamil Nadu government, be it words of praise or awards or welfare assistance or cash prizes. None came forward to sponsor.”