Buenos Aires: Praveen Chithravel, a farm labourer’s son from Tamil Nadu, clinched a bronze medal in the men’s triple jump to give India its second athletics medal in the ongoing Youth Olympics here.
The 17-year-old Praveen, who hails from a village in Thanjavur district, cleared a distance of 15.68m to finish fifth in the Stage 2 competition Tuesday night but his good showing in Stage 1, where he was third with a jump of 15.84m, took him to the podium with a combined effort of 31.52m.
Alejandro Diaz of Cuba won the gold with a combined effort of 34.18m (17.14m & 17.04m) while Emmeanuel Oritsemeyiwa (16.34m & 15.51m) of Nigeria took the silver.
Praveen luckily met a mentor in Indira Suresh, an athletics coach at the Centre of Excellence for Boys in Chennai who is an employee of the Sports Development Authority of India, and she groomed him. He now trains under Indira at Nagercoil.
“When Praveen was in Class VII at the CoE in Chennai, I spotted him and took him under me. When I was shifted to a college in Nagecoil, he also came to me and said he will train only under me. So, I got him admitted to my college,” Indira told this agency, Wednesday.
“Not even Praveen, his younger brother is also training under me now. He is from a very poor family in Thanjavur district, his father is a daily wage farm labourer and his mother is a housewife. He has an elder sister and a younger brother. His father’s meagre income cannot support the cost of his training,” she added.
Praveen won a silver medal in the Junior National Championships in Coimbatore this year. He now studies BA first year at a college in Mangalore in Karnataka under the sports quota but still trains at Nagercoil.
“He gets some stipends and with some financial support from others, I am supporting him in his training, participation in competitions etc. His family has no money to support him in his athletics career,” the coach informed.
Praveen is talented and hardworking. He rarely goes home. I want to groom him as a national champion and then represent India in the Asiad, CWG and the Olympics
Indira Suresh / Praveen’s coach