Jamshedpur, June 20: Twenty-one-year-old Chitra K Soman, an athlete of Tata Steel, has booked herself a berth in the Athens Olympics squad.
Chitra bagged the 400-m silver in the National Athletic Circuit Meet held in Chennai on June 16. She clocked 51.30 seconds — against the qualifying standard of 51.50 seconds, set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). Chitra, who is from Kottayam in Kerala, joined Tata Steel on contract in 2001.
“She could well have broken Beenamol’s 400-m national record of 51.21 seconds. However, she slowed down a little at the finishing line, helping Punjab’s Manjit Kaur to claim the gold,” sources in the Tata Steel sports department said. Kaur set the new national record by clocking 51.05 seconds. Beenamol, who created the record in 400-m in an international meet in 2000, finished fourth in the circuit meet in Chennai.
Chitra will be heading for Athens with loads of confidence as she has competed successfully in national and international meets. The strongly-built athlete had earlier represented Jharkhand in senior nationals. She has also donned Indian colours in the Asian Track and Field meet (ATF).
Chitra clinched a gold in the 400-m hurdles in the Open National Athletics Championship in Bangalore in 2003 before representing the country in the inaugural Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad last year.
She also won a medal for the country in the 4x400-m relay in the Junior ATF held in Bangkok in 2001.“We always had faith in her abilities. Athletes take time to reach the top. Chitra is young and has lots of time to become a top athlete,” said Satish Pillai, chief, sports department, Tata Steel.
Expressing happiness, Pillai said Soman had a bright future in athletics. “Athletes take time to mature. Even the likes of P.T. Usha and others took time to reach the top. Soman is young. She requires time to reach the top,” he added.
Happiness was also evident in the Tata Steel sports department. Officials hoped that Soman would win a medal for the country. “She is a top-class athlete who is capable of winning a medal in the Olympics. Her success would not only win laurels for the country but also for the steel city,” an official said.
“Soman’s success in qualifying for the Olympics would boost the morale of the athletes of our training centre,” he added.
Ashwini A.C., a cadet of the Tata Athletics Academy (TAA) has also won laurels for the steel major by winning a silver as part of the4x400-m relay Indian squad in the recently concluded junior ATF meet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, sports department officials said.
Ace boxer from the city Diwakar Prasad, who was earlier on contract with the steel major, has also qualified for the Olympics. Tata Steel archers Dola Bannerji and Reena Kumari are also certainties for Athens. Bokaro-based weightlifter Pratibha Kumari has already booked a berth for the sports extravaganza. Jharkand’s hockey star Vimal Lakra is also in the list of probables for the Indian squad for Olympics.
