Reeth Abraham is an athlete from

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, India and former Asian medalist in

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and 100 meters hurdles and the former national champion in

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

. She won the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

in 1997 and the Rajyotsava Award in 1983. Reeth had a long athletic career spanning over 15 years (1976–1992). At the national level championships, she won 16 Gold and 11 Silver medals. Reeth is an active athlete and competes regularly in the World Masters events and won medals. She is the current World and Asian Masters Champion in Triple Jump in her age category. She is the joint convenor of Clean Sports India. She is very active in promoting fitness among people and active lifestyles. She actively promotes various running events and Marathons in India. She has been the Brand Ambassador of Bengaluru's only Marathon - Shriram Properties Bengaluru Marathon since 2014. She is the Director of NEB Sports Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

Personal life

Reeth hails from Mysore and took to sport at the age of 12. She studied at Christ the King Convent,

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

which encourage sports immensely. She was a kho kho,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

throw ball Throwball is a non-contact ball sport played across a net between two teams of seven players on a rectangular court. Throwball is popular in Asia, especially on the Indian subcontinent, and was first played in India as a women's sport in Chenn ...

player in addition to athletics at the university or state level. She subsequently decided to focus on

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

. She studied at Maharani college in Bangalore. She has four sisters who too were prolific sportspersons and have represented their respective universities, state and country in various sports fields. She has two children Shilka and Shamir.

Career

During the course of her long athletic career spanning over 15 years (1976–1992), Reeth represented

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

State and India on a number of occasions, setting records along the way. All her achievements were the result of her dedication, application and sense of discipline.

National events

At national level championships, Reeth in all won 16 Gold and 11 Silver medals. In the National games, she won the numerous medals in the

from 1983 to 1987 (except the year 1985). She took to 100 meters hurdles and long jump after 1988 and went on to excel in them too at the national level. She holds to her credit of being a national champion in three events namely heptathlon, 100 meters hurdles and long jump and achieving national records in the long jump and heptathlon. Her best achievement was as a mother when she won a national championship within 10 months of giving birth. Reeth and Beedu

International events

At International level, she brought accolades to India by winning a number of international medals. She participated in two

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

, three Asian Track & Field Championships and two

South Asian Games The South Asian Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among athletes from South Asia. The South Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, N ...

. In all, she won 3 Gold and 1 Silver at the South Asian Games in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

(

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

) and

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

(

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

) in long jump and 100 meter hurdles. She also held the South Asian games record in long jump. She is also the first Indian mother to break a national record and the South Asian Games record. She also holds to her credit being the first Asian woman to win an Asian medal in an Individual event as a mother.

Masters events

Reeth is still an active athlete and competes regularly in the

World Masters Athletics Championships The World Masters Athletics Championships are the biennial championships for masters athletics events held under the auspices of World Masters Athletics, formerly called the World Association of Veteran Athletes, for athletes 35 years of age or ...

meant for athletes over 35 years. She has participated and won medals in the World Masters events in 2003 (

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), 2011 (

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, United States) and 2013 (

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...

, Brazil) in various events. In 2003, at Carolina, Puerto Rico she won the bronze medal in the Long Jump in the W40 category. In 2011, at Sacramento, Reeth won the silver medal for Long jump and the silver medal for Triple jump in the W45 category. In 2011, at Port Alegre, she won the bronze medal for Long jump in the W50 category.

Other activities

Reeth along with Sunil Abraham started the "SURE" athletic initiative in 1983. It was an organization to coach, support and promote budding athletes. She is very active in promoting fitness among people and active lifestyles. She actively promotes various running events and Marathons in India. Reeth is one of the coaches at the Nike Run Club in Bangalore. This is an initiative to encourage ordinary people to take up running.

Awards and honours

* 1983: Rajyotsava Award (Highest State Award) * 1990: Dasara Award (State Award) * 1997:

* 1999: Indian Banks Association Award for outstanding Achievements * 1999: Rotary Award for contribution to Athletics * 1999: Lions Award for contribution to Athletics * 2018:

Clean Sports India

In June 2010, Reeth along with Ashwini Nachappa, Vandana Shanbagh, Sunita Godara, Vandana Rao and other accomplished athletes and sports enthusiasts co-founded Clean Sports India, an organization with the objective to encourage sportspersons to get into sports administration at national, state and local levels and also to rid sports from the menace of drugs. She is currently the joint convenor of Clean Sports India.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham, Reeth 1960s births Living people Indian female long jumpers Indian female hurdlers 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people Recipients of the Arjuna Award Kodava people Sportspeople from Mysore Athletes from Bengaluru Sportswomen from Karnataka South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in athletics South Asian Games gold medalists in athletics Year of birth missing (living people)