Life Came Crashing Down, But It Didn’t Stop Gomathi Marimuthu From Clinching India’s First Gold At The Asian Athletics Championships

Written by Shivani K  • 

A sport is a profession that many women think more than just twice to venture into, especially when it comes to countries like India. Where women are considered as the second important gender and not as first or at least as an equal gender along with the men. Bound by societal norms, women here often end up sacrificing their dreams and ambitions for the reputation of their family or the society they live in.

If the above reason is one thing that holds women from getting into sports, there’s the age factor which plays as another primary obstacle for women. Everybody thinks that a woman’s body is known to continuously undergo changes no matter which age bracket it falls into. Therefore, considering sports as a profession can do more harm than good to a woman.
While we still debate on this, on April 23rd, 2019, Gomathi Marimuthu, an unheralded 30-year-old Indian athlete proved to the world the otherwise by winning the country’s first gold medal in the category of 800m at the recently held 23rd edition of Asian Athletics Championship which was held in Doha, Qatar.

The 30-year-old runner finished first with her personal best record of two minutes and seventy seconds. The distance runner from Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, created history by winning this medal for her home country, India! Her achievement stirred excitement in the world of sports back in India. Even Harsh Bhogle, an Indian cricket commentator and journalist took to his Twitter account to express this incredible news of achievement to the social world.

Image: Twitter

Her Family Was Her Responsibility

Gomathi never thought that she could afford to make a career in sports. Born to a farmer, Gomathi saw her father and mother struggle day and night to meet the needs of her elder brother and sister, along with her. Gomathi went on to study at the Holy Cross College in Tiruchirapalli, she was the only one among the three children to have attended college. Her only aim or dream was to study and get a job so that her family’s conditions would improve. Little did she know that her interest in sports in college would land her a job at the most credible department of the whole of India, the Income Tax department, thanks to sports quota.

The Battle She Fought To Become A Recognized Athlete

Image: Twitter

We all know the rigorous training both girls and boys go through right from a tender age to be able to make themselves physically and mentally fit to enter the sports world. For Gomathi, the struggle was real and even more intense. Because she began running professionally at the age of 20. When compared to her fellow athletes, Gomathi started her career much later. However, one look at Gomathi and you’ll realize that her incredible story and journey exhibits the two important qualities that most great athletes in the world possess — that of conviction and character.

She says that it was her friend Shruthi who was the first person to motivate her to make the best use of her natural talent and take it to the next level. Until then all that Gomathi wanted to do in life was to get a job and support her family.
Even when she got the job at the Income Tax department, she always managed to take a certain time out for her training regularly.

After years of training religiously, she managed to reach the finals of the 800m category in the Asian Championship of 2013 conducted in Pune. She finished seventh in the finals.

After two years, she finished fourth in the same category conducted in Wuhan, China. Gomathi yearned for a position in the podium finish line. While she was working at it, in September 2016 tragedy struck her. Her father succumbed to colon cancer. And while she was still recovering from this loss, Gomathi herself fell prey to a serious groin injury.

Recalling this horrifying phase of her life she says, “My life turned upside down. My mother went into depression after dad passed away. It was tough to get her to do anything. The whole family was dependent on me.” It didn’t end there, a few months later she even lost her coach to a heart attack. “I had no one to train me. I had to provide for the family as well,” she says. She recalls how it was two years of utter agony before she could train again for her dream. Because of these unfortunate incidents, she missed out on major events like the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

Her Victory Run

In the beginning months of 2019, Gomathi participated in national events that qualified her to participate in the selection process for the Asian Athletics Championships. She emerged as a winner at the Federation Cup in Patiala, 2019. But the authorities thought that Gomathi had just got lucky and doesn’t have what it takes to participate at the Asian Athletics Championship. They called her back for another trial run where she proved them wrong. And her win at Doha sure did shut the critics’ mouths.

After her win at Doha, Gomathi told TOI, “Things have been challenging in the last few years. But I have never had any doubts about my abilities, and that has stood me in good stead. It took a tremendous amount of self-belief and hard work to be able to run the way I am running at the moment. 2019 has been a great year for me so far as this is the best I have performed on the track in the last few years.” (1)

We couldn’t be happier with the inspiration Gomathi has provided us and all other fans of Indian athletics alike. Here’s wishing that she’ll continue to set records and win greater glories for the country.

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