Life came crashing down, but it didn’t stop Gomathi Marimuthu from clinching India’s first gold at the Asian Athletics Championships

On April 23, the previously unheralded runner Gomathi Marimuthu made India proud by winning the country its first gold medal at the 23rd Asian Athletics Championship in Doha, Qatar. The 30-year-old finished first in the 800m event with a personal best of two minutes 02.70 seconds.

Much like her classic comeback style victory where she started out at the back of the pack and shot up to the front in the last few seconds, Gomathi’s life has been full of trials that she’s had to overcome with incredible strength and determination.

Being the youngest among four children of farmer parents, and the only one to attend college, Gomathi led life with the simple goal of providing for her family. But when Shruthi, a friend from college encouraged her to professionally pursue her passion for running, Gomathi began making time to train. She continued to do so even alongside her job at the Income Tax Department in Bengaluru.

In 2013, Gomathi participated in and placed seventh at the Asian Championship held in Pune. Two years later, in 2015, she finished fourth at the same event in Wuhan, China, making her next goal nothing less than a podium finish.

But Gomathi’s life came to a standstill when she lost her father to colon cancer in September 2016. She had to single-handedly support her family since and hardly had any time to train. A few months later in December she suffered a severe groin injury, making things tougher than they already were. Unfortunately, in early 2017, Gomathi lost her coach to a heart attack, leaving her nobody to train with.

She toiled tirelessly trying to make ends meet for nearly two years, missing out on important events like the Commonwealth Games, and the Asian Games. Finally, in early 2019, she made her re-entry into the sport.

At the Federation Cup in March, held in Patiala, Gomathi finished first with a timing of two minutes 03.21 seconds. But to ensure that her victory wasn’t just a fluke, she was asked to return for another trial by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). Although her timing had dropped to two minutes 04.12 seconds this time, Gomathi was given the green signal for the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships in Doha.

Despite the hurdles Gomathi has had to cross, she has shown incredible strength by overcoming them and making history.