In a tale of courage, grit and determination, a 56-year-old driver keeps on winning medals one after the other in the national and State-level events despite being handicapped by poverty and age. His sprint has not lost its steam and spirit has not flagged despite several years passing by.
Ramasamy, a car driver of Saravanampatty,Coimbatore,, has been taking part in sprint events since the age of 30.
The pressure of taking care of his family with two children didn't deter him from taking part in such events.
He won the silver medal in the 21 km sprint in the 1990 national athletic championship.He also secured a bronze medal in the 10 km sprint in the same championship. This motivated him to take part in various competitions including the national level sprint for seniors at Gauhati in 2008. There he emerged the runner-up in the 10-km and 5 km-sprint event and third place in the 1500-metre sprint.
So far he has won 20 gold medals, 15 silver medals and 10 bronze medals in the State level events. Simliarly he has annexed 26 medals in the national level events.
He took part in 1500 metre sprint held in China last month.However, he could not get even the 12th spot.
"Though I am willing to participate in the sprint events wherever organised, I have no money even to travel by bus," he amends. There is none to support him.
He is one of those who come under the category that Thomas Gray spoke about in his Elegy: written in a Country Church Yard "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen and waste its sweetness in the desert air".