V Revathi, Olympic Talent From A Humble Family In Rural India | Olympics News
V Revathi, 23, a railway ticket collector from rural Madurai, is one of the Tokyo Olympics medal hopefuls for India in the 4×400 mixed relay event. She clocked 53:55 seconds at the Patiala camp. “I have participated in Asian Games and came 4th. I’ve also participated in the World Championship. Later, I suffered a knee injury and went through difficulty to recover. Many including the coaches helped me. My grandmother too supported me, she didn’t stop me,” Revathi told NDTV.
Revathi had lost her parents when she was young and was brought up by her grandmother at a humble house in Madurai. The young sprinter would run barefoot as they could not afford shoes.
That is when coach Kannnan spotted her talent and literally adopted Revathi’s family, after which she set records at the university and also won three medals in national events.
In 2019 at the Doha Asian Games, she came 4th, missing out on a medal by a whisker.
“When I saw her under the care of her grandmother at a small village after losing her parents, I believed such people would have the talent and good health. I decided to train her as only such people coming from humble background, I thought would listen to us and train,” Kannan said.
