Preeja Sreedharan (born 13 March 1982 at Mullakkanam, Idukki,

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

) 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 ...

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 sta ...

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 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 ...

, India's second highest sporting honour by the

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...

in 2011. Sreedharan's breakthrough came in 2007, when she won the silver medal in both the disciplines at the

Asian Athletics Championships The Asian Athletics Championships is an event organized by the Asian Athletics Association. History The competition courted controversy with the IAAF when political in-fighting arose after Israel was excluded from participation in 1977. That edi ...

. 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 Idukki (ഇടുക്കി; ) is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala in the southwest of the country. It is the largest district in Kerala and lies amid the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats in Kerala. Idukki district co ...

.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 Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

, 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 The 2006 Asian Games (), officially known as the XV Asiad or 15th Asian Games (, and commonly known as Doha 2006 (), were an Asian multi-sport event held in Doha, Qatar, from December 1 to 15, 2006, with 424 events in 39 sports featured in the ga ...

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

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

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 an Indian Malayalam language Free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the sign ...

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 Suzanna Arundhati Roy (; born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. ...

, 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 received ...

and famous politician, and financial minister K. M. Mani. Sreedharan was the fastest Indian woman at the 2014

Delhi Half Marathon Delhi Half Marathon, currently branded as the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual half marathon foot-race held in New Delhi, India. Established in 2005, it is both an elite runner and mass participation event. It is ...

. She also participated 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 ...

, 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 Athletic 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 The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. 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 Athletes from Kerala Indian female long-distance runners 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 Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games athletes for India People from Idukki district Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games athletes for India Asian Games silver medalists for India Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Olympic athletes for India Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Indoor Athletics Championships winners Asian Athletics Championships medalists Asian Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Asian Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) 21st-century Indian sportswomen