Preeja Sreedharan (born 13 March 1982 at Mullakkanam, Idukki, Kerala) is an Indian long-distance runner. She holds the national records in both the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

and

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

disciplines, which she set en route to the gold and silver medals at 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. Sreedharan was conferred with the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards 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 Arjuna, one ...

, India's second highest sporting honour by the central government in 2011. Sreedharan's breakthrough came in 2007, when she won the silver medal in both the disciplines at the Asian Athletics Championships. She bettered her personal bests and the Indian national records in both the 10000 and 5000 meters at 2010 Asian Games; she won the gold in the 10000 meters and the silver in 5000 meters. She announced her retirement from international circuit in February 2015.

Personal life

Preeja was born to Sreedharan and Remani in Idukki, Kerala.She belonged to a middle class family. Her father was a manual labourer and passed away when she was 8 years old. She has an elder brother Pradeep and an elder sister Preethy. After her father's demise her brother had to leave school at 6th standard and take up job in order to meet household expenses. She graduated from Alphonsa College, Pala. She married Dr.Deepak Gopinath on 11 November 2012 at Palakkad, Kerala. Preeja Sreedharan has been employed as a Superintendent by the Southern Railway. The couple have two children, Darshan (born on 2016) and Dhyan (born on 2018).

Career

At the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, Sreedharan finished fifth in both the 5000 and the 10,000 metres. At the 2007 Asian Championships at

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

she won the silver medals in the two events. She qualified for the Beijing Olympics in June 2008 after achieving a B qualifying mark for the Games and then finished twenty-fifth in the Olympic 10,000 metres. Sreedharan achieved her personal best of 31:50:28 minutes in the 10,000 metres en route to the gold medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games; she also broke the Indian national record with the performance. Sreedharan also won the silver medal in

at the event. With the time of 15:15.89 minutes, she also bettered the national record in 5000 meters. Sreedharan was selected as

Manorama News Manorama News is a free-to-air Malayalam-language news channel operated and owned by Malayala Manorama Television (MMTV). The channel, based at Aroor, near Cherthala, Alappuzha Alappuzha or Alleppey () is the administrative headquarters of ...

maker of the year 2010. The selection was done through an online SMS voting from public. The finalists with Preeja were, Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy, Njhanpeedam winner and famous Malayalam poet

ONV Kurup Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup (known as O. N. V. Kurup; 27 May 1931 – 13 February 2016) was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He receive ...

and famous politician, and financial minister

K. M. Mani Karingozhackal Mani Mani (30 January 1933 – 9 April 2019) was an Indian politician and the chairman of Kerala Congress (M), one of the main factions of Kerala Congress, a party born in the Travancore or Central South Kerala region which foc ...

. Sreedharan was the fastest Indian woman at the 2014 Delhi Half Marathon. She also participated at the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

, but was unable to win any medal. Sreedharan announced her retirement from international competitions in February 2015. She said that she would participate in her last competition at the 2015 National Athletics Championships: "With the next national games, I would leave the track for ever. The decision was taken to focus on family life, I would continue to strive for promoting athletics." Most Important landmarks in career • She is the Indian athlete to represent India in 10000m in Olympics. She qualified for the Beijing Olympics in June 2008 after achieving a B qualifying mark for the Games and then finished twenty-fifth in the Olympic 10,000 metres. • She won Gold medal in the 10,000 metres event and Silver medal in 5000 metres at the Guangzhou Asian Games 2010. • She holds Indian national record for both 5000 and 10,000 metres as on 18.10.2020. • At the 2007 Asian Championships at Amman, she won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres and 5000 Meters. • Her personal best for the 10,000 metres is 31:50:28 minutes in Guangzhou Asian Games. This is the current Indian national record . • Her personal best for the 5000 metres is 15:15 minutes in Guangzhou Asian Games. This is the current Indian national record. • She was selected as Manorama Newsmaker of the year 2010( Kerala State ). International Acievements Beijing Olympics 2008 10000m Participation Asian Games – Guangzhau 2010 10000m Gold Medal (Current National Record ) Asian Games – Guangzhau 2010 5000m Silver Medal (current National record ) Asian Athletics Championship 2007 10000m Silver Medal Asian Aathletic Championship 2007 5000m Silver Medal 2nd Asian Indoor Games Macao – 2007 3000m Silver Medal 3rd Asian Indoor Championship – Doha 2008 3000m Gold Medal 10th South Asian Games Columbo 2006 10000m Gold medal 19th Asian Athletic Championship Kobai 2011 10000m Bronze Medal 6th Asian Cross Country Kadmandu 2001 4KM Silver Medal NATIONAL LEVEL 9th National Athletic Championship Thrissur-2001 10000m Gold Medal 9th National Athletic Championship Thrissur 2001 5000m Gold Medal 10th National athletic championship – Chandigarh 2002 1500m Gold Medal 10th National athletic championship – Chandigarh 2002 5000m Silver Medal 37th National Cross Country Championship Goa 4 km Gold Medal 7th Federation Cup Cross country 2002 8 km Bronze Medal 44th National Open Athletics Championship – Mumbai 2004 5000m Gold Medal 44th National Interstate Senior Athletic Championship 2004 5000m Silver Medal 44th National Interstate Senior Athletic Championship 2004 1500m Bronze Medal 38th National Cross country Championship Shimla 2004 4 km race Gold Medal 45th National Interstate Senior athletics championship – Bangalore 2005 5000m Bronze Medal 11th Federation cup National Senior Athletics championship Delhi 5000m Silver Medal 45th National Open Athletic Championship Hyderabad 2005 5000m Silver Medal 45th National Open Athletic Championship Hyderabad 2005 1500m Bronze Medal 46th National Open Athletic Championship Delhi 2006 10000m Gold Medal 46th National Interstate Senior Athletic Championship Chennai 2006 10000m Gold Medal 46th National Interstate Senior Athletic Championship Chennai 2006 5000m Gold Medal 1st National Endurance Athletic Competition Delhi 2006 1500m Silver Medal 33rd National Games Guwahati 2007 10000 Gold Medal 33rd National Games Guwahati 2007 5000m Gold Medal 33rd National Games Guwahati 2007 1500 m Gold Medal 47th National Open Athletic Championship Jamshedpur 2007 10000m Gold Medal 47th National Open Athletic Championship Jamshedpur 2007 5000m Gold Medal 47th National Interstate Senior Athletic Championship Bhopal 2007 10000m Silver Medal 47th National Interstate Senior Athletic Championship Bhopal 5000m Silver Medal 48th National Open Athletic Championship Kochi 2008 10000m Gold Medal 48th National Open Athletic Championship Kochi 2008 5000m Gold Medal 14th Federation Cup National Senior Athletic Championship 2008 Bhopal 5000m Silver Medal 50th National Interstate Senior Athletic Championship Patiala 2010 10000m Gold Medal 15th Federation Cup National Senior Athletic Championship Ranchi 2010 10000m Gold Medal 50th National Open Athletic Championship – Kochi 2010 10000m Silver Medal 15th Federation Cup National Senior Athletic Championship Ranchi 2010 5000m Silver Medal 51st National Open Athletic Championship – Kolkata 2011 10000m Gold Medal 34th National Games, Jharkhand 2011 10000m Silver Medal 34th National Games, Jharkhand 2011 5000m Silver Medal 53rd National Open Athletic Championship – Ranchi 2013 10000m Bronze medal 53rd National Open Athletic Championship – Ranchi 2013 5000m Silver Medal 53rd National Interstate Senior Athletic Championship Chennai 2013 10000m Gold Medal 53rd National Interstate Senior Athletic Championship Chennai 2013 5000m Silver Medal 48th National Cross country championships Jalpaiguri 2013 8 KM Gold Medal 54th National Open Athletic Championship – Delhi 2014 10000m Silver Medal 35th National games Kerala 2015 10000m Silver Medal

Awards

Following her performance at the 2010 Asian Games, Sreedharan was conferred with the

in 2011 by the Government of India. G V Raja Award ( Kerala State ) – 2001 Manorama Newsmaker of the Year ( Kerala State ) – 2011 Jimmy Gorge Award- 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sreedharan, Preeja 1982 births Living people Sportswomen from Kerala Indian female long-distance runners 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for India People from Idukki district Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games silver medalists for India Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Athletes from Kerala Olympic athletes for India Recipients of the Arjuna Award