Dharun Ayyasamy (born 31 December 1996) is an Indian track

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

. He specialises in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

and the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

events. He participated in the

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Early life

Dharun was born on 31 December 1996 in a village called Ravuthampalayam near

Avinashi Avinashi () (previously known as ''Thirupukkoliyur'') is a Special Grade Town Panchayat in Tiruppur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Avinashi is one among the nine taluks of the district. It is one of the popular pilgrim destination ...

Tiruppur district Tiruppur District is one of the 38 districts of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, formed in 22 February 2009. Dharapuram was the largest taluk by area in the district. The district is well-developed and industrialized. The Tiruppur banian indust ...

. When he was in fourth grade, his father died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. Dharun's mother is a school teacher while his sister Sathya plays

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

for Tamil Nadu. Dharun completed his schooling at The Century Foundation School in Tirupur where he was coached by Mr. Alagesan and he never looked back since then. He later studied

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

at the Alva's College of Arts in

Moodabidri Moodabidri ( kn, ಮೂಡುಬಿದಿರೆ ''Mūḍubidire''; also called Mudbidri, Moodbidre and Bedra), is a town and taluk in Dakshina Kannada district. It lies 34 km northeast of the district headquarters, Mangalore, in Karnat ...

, Karnataka. He represented Tamil Nadu at

kho kho Kho kho or kho-kho is a traditional Indian sport that dates back to ancient India. It is the second most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connec ...

before switching to athletics in tenth grade.

Career

Dharun won the

gold medal at the

2016 South Asian Games The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports ...

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

with a time of 50.54 seconds, finishing 0.03 seconds ahead of fellow Indian Jithin Paul whom he overtook at the last hurdle. In July 2016, Dharun was part of the relay team that broke the national 4 × 400 metres relay record at

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and qualified for the Olympics. The quartet of Dharun,

Mohammad Anas Seaman Muhammed Anas Yahiya (born 17 September 1994) is an Indian sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres distance. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 400 metres and the 4 × 400 m relay, and holds the national record (45.24) i ...

Kunhu Muhammed Kunhu Muhammed Puthanpurakkal (born 5 March 1987) is an Indian sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres event. He participated in the 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In July 2016, Muhammed was part of the relay te ...

and

Arokia Rajiv Subedar Arokia Rajiv (born 22 May 1991) is an Indian sprinter and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in Indian Army who specialises in the 400 metres distance. He won silver medals in the men's and mixed 4 × 400 m relays at the 2018 Asian G ...

clocked 3:00:91, rewriting the national record of 3:02.17 set by themselves four weeks earlier in Turkey. The performance helped the relay team jump to 13th place in the world rankings. It was the third time a men's relay team from India qualified for the Olympics, after 1964 and 2000. In August 2018, Dharun won the

400 meter hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

silver medal at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

with a timing of 48.96 seconds setting a new national record.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayyasamy, Dharun 1996 births Living people People from Tiruppur district Indian male sprinters Athletes from Tamil Nadu Olympic athletes for India Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Tamil sportspeople South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in athletics Commonwealth Games competitors for India World Athletics Championships athletes for India