Machettira Raju Poovamma (born 5 June 1990) is an Indian sprinter who 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 programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

distance. As a member of the Indian 4 × 400 m relay teams she participated in the 2016 Olympics and won gold medals at the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games and 2013 and 2017 Asian championships; individually she won a silver medal in 2013 and a bronze in 2014 at those competitions. She received 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 2015 for her contributions to athletics.

Early life

Poovamma was born to M. G. Raju and Jaji. She completed her primary and higher education in

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

and acquired her bachelor's degree in business management from the Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Business Management, Karnataka. Her brother MR Manju also competed in the 400 m events at the national level.

Career highlights

Poovamma won a silver medal in the 400 m and a gold in the 4 × 400 m relay at the

2008 Commonwealth Youth Games The 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games (Hindi language, Hindi: 2008 कॉमनवेल्थ यूथ गेम्स), officially known as the III Commonwealth Youth Games, and commonly known as Pune 2008, a regional sporting event that was hel ...

. She then won a senior national 400 m title in September 2011 in Kolkata. At the 2012 Asian Grands Prix Poovamma won two gold and a silver medal. She also won a gold medal at the 2013 Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok. Poovamma represented India in the Moscow

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial sport of athletics, athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations ...

2013 where she was also a part of the women's 4 × 400 m relay team. She won the gold medal in women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games (), officially known as the 17th Asian Games () and also known as Incheon 2014 (), were a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from 19 September to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. On 17 April 2007, Incheon was awarded ...

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

, South Korea along with Tintu Luka, Mandeep Kaur and Priyanka Pawar. The team clocked 3:28:68 to break the Games Record. This is India's 4th consecutive gold in the event since 2002. In 2017 she was part of the winning 4 × 400 m team at the

2017 Asian Athletics Championships The 2017 Asian Athletics Championships was the 22nd edition of the Asian Athletics Championships. It was held from 6 to 9 July 2017 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, India. Bhubaneswar was the third Indian city to host Asian Championships. ...

Bhubaneshwar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra Khetra'' and ''Ekamra Khetra'' ( ...

, which also included Debashree Mazumdar, Jisna Mathew and

Nirmala Sheoran Nirmala Sheoran (born 15 July 1995) is an Indian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres event. Sheoran is currently serving an eight year competition ban due to failing anti-doping regulations with an end date of August 2031. Early life Sh ...

. The team had a problematic baton exchange, but Nirmala recovered the time in the final leg.

Competition record

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poovamma, M. R. 1990 births Living people Sportswomen from Karnataka Athletes from Karnataka People from Kodagu district Indian female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for India Indian female middle-distance runners Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games athletes for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for India Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2014 South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in athletics Recipients of the Arjuna Award Commonwealth Games athletes for India Asian Athletics Championships winners Asian Athletics Championships medalists Olympic female sprinters