Shiny Kurisingal Wilson ( nee Abraham, born 8 May 1965) is a retired Indian athlete. She has been a National Champion in 800 metres for 14 years. Shiny Abraham Wilson (Shiny Abraham) represented India more than 75 times in international competition. She holds the added distinction of representing Asia in four World Cups. She is also perhaps the only athlete to have taken part in six Asian Track & Field Meets in a row beginning 1985 in Jakarta. During this period she won seven gold, five silver and two bronze medals in the Asian competitions. She collected a total of 18 gold and two silver medals from the seven South Asian Federation (SAF) Meets she has competed.

Early life

Born at Thodupuzha in Idukki district of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a 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 regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

on 8 May 1965, Shiny became interested in athletics as a child but developed her skills after joining the sports division in

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south ...

. In fact Shiny,

PT Usha Pilavullakandi Thekkeraparambil Usha (born 27 June 1964) is a retired Indian track and field athlete. She was born in Kuthali, Kozhikode, Kerala. She has been associated with Indian athletics since 1979. She has won 4 Asian gold medals and 7 S ...

and M D Valsamma studied at the same sports division in various parts of Kerala and as they grew up, they were coached by the NIS coach P. J Devasia. Shiny was then trained at G.V. Raja Sports School in Trivandrum before she moved to Alphonsa College in Palai. She is currently the Indian team selector and government nominee for selection committee board.

Career

Shiny Abraham's athletics career ran alongside that of

from the time the two of them represented the country in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until th ...

in New Delhi in 1982. Shiny became national champion in the 800 metres a year before the Asian Games in Delhi. She cut into the inner lane and was disqualified while very much in front of the field during the

1986 Asian Games The 1986 Asian Games ( ko, 1986년 아시아 경기대회/1986년 아시안 게임, Cheon gubaek palsip-yuk nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Cheon gubaek palsip-yuk nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 10th Asian Games and the X Asiad ( ko, 제10� ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, she became the first woman to be the flag bearer for India at the Olympics. Her most memorable competition was the Asian Track & Field Meet at

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

in 1989, despite being in the family way, she ran the 800;meters to come second behind Sun Sumei of China but Shiny was declared the winner as Sumei tested positive for doping. One of her greatest achievements was that she was running even faster after the birth of her child and she set a new record of 1:59.85 in the 800m race at the 1995 South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Chennai. Shiny married swimmer Wilson Cherian in December 1988. Shiny was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1985, Birla Award in 1996 and Padma Shri in 1998. she is also the recipient of Chinese Journalists Award 1991 for being one of the Top Ten Athletes of Asia.

Participation

Shiny Abraham has participated in four

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

: Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988), Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta(1996). Although she didn't win any medals at any of the four Olympics, she and

P.T. Usha Pilavullakandi Thekkeraparambil Usha (born 27 June 1964) is a retired Indian track and field athlete. She was born in Kuthali, Kozhikode, Kerala. She has been associated with Indian athletics since 1979. She has won 4 Asian gold medals and 7 S ...

powered India to an unexpected Women's 4X400 relay final at the 1984 Games. She was also the captain of the Indian Contingent at the 1992 Games. She has also represented India in three

and has won a Gold, 2 Silvers and a Bronze. In the Asian Track and Field meets, she has won 7 Gold Medals, 6 Silver Medals and 2 Bronze Medals. Represented India for more than 75 Times . First Indian Women athlete to reach the semi-finals in Olympics in women's 800m First Indian woman captain and flag bearer for Indian Contingent for 1996 Atlanta Olympics

Awards

* She received 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, on ...

in 1984 * She received Chinese journalist award 1991 From

Chinese Government The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mi ...

For her Outstanding Achievement in Sports * She was conferred

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

, India's fourth highest civilian award in 1998. * She was honoured with Birla Award in 1998. * In 2002, she Was Honoured by the

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid t ...

, Los Angeles and had presented a paper presentation on behalf of Asia * In 2009, she was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award From

CNN IBN CNN-News18 (originally CNN-IBN) is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides interna ...

at Delhi * In 2012, she was Awarded Lifetime Achievement Award From JFW Achievers Award in Chennai * In 2012, she was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award From Sun Networks for Women Achievers for the Field of Sports

References

External links