Dhanalakshmi Sekar, India’s Olympian at Tokyo 2020, Breaks Down After Knowing About Sister’s Death on Returning Home

Well, this isn’t the type of news any Indian athlete would want to hear on returning back home, especially after the country had a highly successful Olympics campaign. Olympian Dhanalakshmi Sekar was in for a shock when she heard about the death of her younger sister. She returned home on Saturday alongside fellow sprinter Subha Venkataraman, to her village Gundur near Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu. And she was absolutely distraught having heard this news. She broke down into tears and appeared to be inconsolable after hearing that her sister is no more. It was reported that this had happened while she was in Tokyo, competing in the Olympics and her family didn’t want her to lose focus during the competition. Virat Kohli Congratulates India’s Medal Winners and Participants at Tokyo Olympics 2020, Says, ‘We Are So Proud of You’

Following a good performance in the trials at the National Institute of Sport in Patiala, Dhanalakshmi had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 as a reserve for the 4x400m mixed relay team. It was learnt that Dhanalakshmi found a lot of support from her sister and upon learning about her death, she was seen covering her face and breaking down.

Dhanalakshmi had a memorable performance during her trials at the National Institute of Sport, where she defeated Dutee Chand in the 100m race, winning gold as a result. Also, she broke the legendary PT Usha’s record of 23.30 seconds in 200m, setting a new record of 23.26 seconds. Her prolific speed earned her the name of  ‘Gundur Express’.

(The above story first appeared on Today News 24 on Aug 08, 2021 11:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website todaynews24.top).