Beating all odds, Revathi makes it to India’s Olympic contingent

Revathi Veeramani not just faced abject poverty – she began running barefoot – but also opposition from a conservative society that questioned her dream of donning the hat of an athlete. Having lost her parents at a young age, Revathi was raised by her grandmother Aarammal and spent most of her school and college life in hostels.

She had gone to bed hungry many times but would get up early in the morning to practice. It is the determination to make a name for herself in the sporting arena despite all odds that has brought Revathi where she is today – the 23-year-old will represent India in the 4x400m mixed relay race at the Tokyo Olympics.

“What would she achieve by running?”. “She is a girl. She shouldn’t be running around the village wearing a t-shirt and shorts.” These are some of the taunts that were thrown at Revathi as she pursued running at her native village Sakkimangalam, near Madurai.

But it is her perseverance that kept her going -- when she began running as a teenager, Revathi did not have a pair of shoes and practiced barefoot.

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Her dream of becoming an athlete took off after K Kannan, an athletics coach, spotted her talent and trained her to participate in national-level competitions.

It was Kannan who honed Revathi’s running skills by helping her financially till she could stand on her own. After completing the 12th standard, Revathi got admission to Lady Oak College in Madurai under sports quota and now works as a ticket collector (TC) with the Southern Railway.

“It is yet to sink in that I am going to participate in the Tokyo Olympics. The Olympics is the ultimate dream of any athlete and my happiness transcends all boundaries. It has been a rollercoaster ride. My grandmother withstood the pressure to get me and my sister married off at a young age as is the practice in villages. If not for her, I would not be talking to you today,” Revathi told DH from her training camp in Patiala in Punjab.

The athlete’s voice choked as she began describing the difficulties Aarammal faced in raising her and sister Rekha, who is a police constable in Chennai. “My eyes swelled with tears the moment I saw my grandmother on television talking about me being part of the Indian contingent to the Olympics. It is she who is behind everything that I have achieved,” Revathi said.

The young sprinter had always dreamt of participating in the Olympics but she did not know where to start. “Kannan sir walked the extra mile to help me as an athlete. He was the one who spotted my talent and trained me as a sprinter. It is because of his training, I have been able to make it big,” Revathi said.