J. Deepthi’s golden moment in the Asian Para Games athletics was winning the women’s 400m (T20 category) in Hangzhou (China) early this week. This can well be yet another reminder of how far an athlete’s grit, determination and perseverance despite all odds can take in the sporting world.
Born to parents who are daily wage labourers in Kalleda (Warangal district) and groomed by Mr. Ram Mohan Rao’s Rural Development Foundation, which is well-known for producing quite a few young achievers in archery, Deepthi, in fact, created an Asian Para Games record on way to her gold medal performance with her timing of 56.69 which made the critics look up to her as someone truly special.
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Trained by Sports Authority of India athletics coach N. Ramesh who has to his credit producing quite a few Olympians and Asian Games medallists including sprinter Dutee Chand, A. Nandini, Jyothi Yarraji, Sathi Geetha (2004 and 2008 Olympian), P. Shankar, to name a few, spotted her for the first time a couple of years ago in a State-level meet in Khammam and believed in her ability to transgress the barriers and make an impact in the world of athletics.
“Luckily, her parents Yadagiri and Dhanalaxmi, had faith in me and my approach to train the young Deepthi who has the intellectual challenge because of the parents’ consanguineous marriage,” Ramesh informed Sportstar.
J. Deepthi who won gold in the women’s 400m (T-20 category) of the Para Asian Games in Hangzhou (China) with her parents. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Like in many such cases, life has never been easy for Deepthi, who also has a sister, to chase her sporting dreams for the journey was dotted with quite a few challenges, especially on the financial front.
With confidence in Deepthi, a SAI-STC (Hyderabad) day boarding athlete, Ramesh brought her, like many other promising athletes, under the Gopichand-Mytrah Foundation project which takes care of the essential needs of the athlete’s training and exposure besides ensuring decent accommodation.
“She possesses the grace of a silent goddess and running is her greatest strength. She is extremely dedicated to her training and competitions,” Ramesh said.
“We are targeting a Paralympic gold now and I am sure she can make even that possible given her rare qualities and fighting spirit,” he concluded.
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