Karati Gupta (left) of St Mary’s English School, Jamshedpur, race past her opponents to create a record in the 800-m race at the CBSE Athletics Championship at the JRD Tata Sports Complex. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, Jan. 9: A friend of Sinimole Paulose and a fellow athlete training under the same coach at Tata Athletics Academy, Karati Gupta, created a record today on the concluding day of the CBSE National Athletics meet held at JRD Tata Sports Complex.

Karati managed to finish in 2:23:4 minutes in the 800-m race in the under-16 girls’ section. In 1998, Sinimole had created a record in 2:23:8 minutes. Then, she was a student of MG Public School, Ambadimala, Kerala.

An elated Karati said: “It is such a good coincidence that Sinimole is arriving tomorrow. She would be very happy for me and this would be my gift to her. We have been training together and I draw inspiration from her. She has made everybody proud and hope my feat makes her happy.”

A student of Class IX in St Mary’s School, Karati also draws inspiration from ace athlete Shiny Wilson. Karati, who hails from Bhopal, not only creates a meet record but also won a gold in the 400-m sprint and a silver in the 1,500-m event. She was also adjudged the best athlete in the CBSE national athletic meet last year.

“Although I have created a record, I am not fully satisfied with my performance. My past performance was better. Now I want to do better in the inter-district nationals and make the state proud by winning medals,” said Karati.

For now, she is stressing on improving her stamina. “At present I feel that I lack stamina and when I compete in the national-level my performance may get hampered due to that,” said Karati.