Govindan Lakshmanan (born 5 June 1990 in Sokkurani,

Pudukottai district Pudukkottai District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The city of Pudukkottai is the district headquarters. It is also known colloquially as ''Pudhugai.'' The city is also known as Thondaiman Pudukkottai. Pu ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India) is an Indian

distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

. On the track, he mostly competes over

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 sta ...

and

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 ...

, but has also run the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

competitively.

Early life

Lakshmanan lost his father to a

car accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...

when he was six, and was

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

by his neighbour S. Loganathan. His mother Jayalakshmi is a small farmer. Under Loganathan's tutelage, Lakshmanan began training in long-distance running when he was 16, along with the former's daughter Suriya, in Youth Sports Club in the village of Kavinadu near the town of

Pudukkottai Pudukkottai Municipal Corporation is the administrative headquarters of Pudukkottai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the oldest Heritage city located on the banks of the Vellar River. It has been ruled, at different t ...

Career

He represented India at the

2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships () was the 41st edition of the global championships in cross country running, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held in Guiyang, China on 28 March. It was the ...

, placing 74th overall. Competing over 5000 metres at the 2015 Wuhan Asian Championships, Lakshmanan won the bronze medal with a time of 13:36.62. He won the 10,000 metres silver medal with a time of 29:42.81. At the next Championships, he won the 5000 metres gold medal with a time of 14:54.48, becoming only the third Indian to win gold in the event at the Championships, and the first since 1993. The time was however the slowest in the Championships' history for a winner. The victory earned him a qualification for the London World Championships that year. In London, he ran his personal best of 13:35.69. At the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, Indonesia; he won bronze medal but was later stripped as he was disqualified for lane infringement.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lakshmanan, Govindan 1990 births Living people People from Pudukkottai district Athletes from Tamil Nadu Indian male long-distance runners Indian male cross country runners Asian Games athletes for India Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for India Asian Athletics Championships winners Asian Athletics Championships medalists Tamil sportspeople