Abhirami Prasanna wins 2000m gold at MSSA athletics

Abhirami wins 2000m gold and delights father Pulikal, who is her coach

More than Abhirami Prasanna, it seemed as if her father-cum-coach Pulikal was desperate for the gold medal.

Prasanna Sr coaches St Anthony Girls High School, Chembur who's lass clinched the 2000m gold at the under-16 girls' race in the MSSA inter-school athletics meet on Saturday. Abhirami won bronze in the under-16 800m race on Thursday. Prasanna Sr, who recently won the 400m relay silver at the Masters Athletics competition in Malaysia, said: "Apart from being her father, I am also coach of the school. Everybody was eager to see my daughter winning gold. I am relieved and happy that she has finally won it."

Prasanna had no option but to make his 13-year-old daughter compete with girls older to her. "There were no 2000m races in the under-14 category. So I had to make her compete with under-16 girls. This win will give her good confidence," he said.

However, Abhirami, who clocked eight minutes and 30.1 seconds to win the race, said she didn't want to disappoint her father again. "We were disappointed after I won bronze in the 800m. My father puts in a lot of effort to train me so I did not want to disappoint him again. I was confident of winning the gold today," she said.

"My aim is compete internationally and make my country and father proud," Abhirami concluded.