Coimbatore: The gold medalist at the recently concluded South Asian Games held in Guwahati in the 40-km Team Trial Cycling', reached here on Thursday amid warm welcome by family, friends and the sports association in the city.
Twenty-one-year-old cyclist from Annur, G Manisha, who bagged the gold medal far India along with her team mates Bidyaluxmi Tourangbam, Rutuja Satpute, Chaoba Devi, discontinued her engineering course to dedicate herself to cycling.
Manisha, who was seemingly cheerful with the welcome, said that she was able to realise her long awaited dream with the consistent support of her parents. Manisha while stating the importance of pursuing sports from a younger age, said that the cost of equipment needed to practice the sport was too high, and the government should provide more financial support to aspiring cyclists.
She also insisted on constructing more velodromes (a type of cycling track) that would be useful by professional cyclists to train. Her father, N Gunasekaran, a TNEB employee said that his daughter was in love with the game since she was 11 years. Her mom, G Indrani, attributed her daughter’s success to years of hard work and rigorous training. She also added that Manisha was an intelligent kid who excelled in her studies too.
Krishnamoorthy J, Secretary, Coimbatore District Cycling Association and KCK Vijayakumar, vice-president, Annur town panchayat, were also present to receive her.