Gayathri Govindaraj

Gayathry Govindharaj (born 27 April 1991) is an Indian athlete who competes in the 100 metres hurdles and Triple jump events. She is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation that identifies and supports Indian athletes.[1]

Gayathry Govindharaj
Gayathry (center) with Gold Medal, at the 12th South Asian Games in 2016
Personal information
NationalityIndian
Born (1991-04-27) 27 April 1991
Chennai, India
Sport
CountryIndia
SportTrack and field
Event(s)100 metres hurdles
Triple jump
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)100 m hurdles: 13.59 s
Triple jump: 13.58 m
Medal record
Commonwealth Youth Games
2008 Pune100 m hurdles
2008 PuneTriple jump
2008 Pune4×100 m relay
South Asian Games
2016 Guwahati100m hurdles

Early life

Gayathri comes from a small village near Tiruchi called Ariyalur. She comes from a humble background and before she gained fame, her family found it difficult to make ends meet. Due to her economic background her parents could not afford to provide her a formal training and she says in an interview with The Indian Express, "My parents recollect that I used to run around a lot during my childhood. In school, I used to participate in every athletic event in every tournament."[2]

After securing 91 per cent in her twelfth standard, she came to Chennai to study computer-engineering from St Joseph’s College of Engineering.[2]

Career and achievements

After participating in various inter college sports events, she gained fame through the 18th Zone Junior inter-State athletic Championship (2006) in Raichur. She won gold in U-16 100M hurdles in this. She also broke Poonam Belliappa's 11 year old record of 14.40 seconds in the under-18 category in the year 2016. This was followed by her another 14.04 seconds in 2008 and in Mysore she beat her own record by 0.02 seconds.[3]

Her left knee was injured during the triple jump event of the Commonwealth Games 2010 that happened in New Delhi. After being operated on her left leg, it is been said by her in an interview with The Hindu that she has been practicing hard to be a part of sports once again.[4]

References
  1. "Saina's Hong Kong trip funded by Olympic Gold Quest". The Times of India. 15 December 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  2. "No hurdle is too high for Gayathri". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  3. "No hurdle is too high for Gayathri". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  4. Keerthivasan, K. (26 September 2012). "Gayathri on a comeback trail". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
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