With one shoe she ran and won gold

Hailing from an agricultural family at Navadi village near Hosur, Krishnagiri district, J. Gowthami was confident of winning a medal in the event till she started running.

“There were two girls ahead of me when I completed about 250 metres. Someone from behind accidentally stamped on my right shoe. With no time to turn back and find out who did it, I managed to finish the first round (150 metres from when the incident took place). Realising that I could not drag on with it, I abandoned the right spike shoe,” she told DT Next.

After kicking away the right shoe she started focusing on the track. By then there were three girls including an international athlete ahead of her. Her childhood practice of running without a shoe came in handy. She said that she was determined to finish the race before the last person and the last 100 metres made the difference.

Confident of winning the gold she raced her way past two others and had a close finish with fellow athlete from Tamil Nadu L. Samyashri (Coimbatore) and narrowly won the gold by finishing in two minutes and 18 seconds. Her winning effort won the appreciation of fellow athletes and coaches from other States.

“I did not have time to think how I can run with only a shoe or if my leg would hurt due to the practical difficulty of running with a bare foot,” she said. “My leg started aching only after I completed the event. But I am elated over winning my first national gold medal,” she added.