Stephanie "Stephie" D'Souza, ''nee'' Sequeira (26 December 1936 – 11 September 1998) was an Indian sportsperson who represented

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

and women's hockey.

Early life

Stephanie "Stephie" D Souza, inheritably Sequeira, was born on 26 December 1936. She studied at the Sardar Dastur Girls School at Pune, and later shifted to the Fergusson College to do her graduation. She worked with Central Railways (Pune Division). After her marriage, she shifted to Jamshedpur. D'Souza was part of the Indian team that won the gold in the 4 × 100 m relay in the

1954 Asian Games The 1954 Asian Games (), officially known as the Second Asian Games – Manila 1954, were a multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines, from May 1 to 9, 1954. A total of 970 athletes from 19 Asian National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in ...

(with Violet Peters,

Christine Brown Christine Brown (born September 1938) is an Indian track-and-field athlete. She won a gold medal in 4×100m relay (with Stephie d'Souza, Violet Peters and Mary d'Souza) and bronze in the 100 metres in the 1954 Asian Games. This was the first g ...

and Mary D'Souza) and a bronze in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

. She won a silver in the 200 m, creating an Asian record in the semifinal, and finished fourth in the 100 m in the latter competition. At one point, she held the national records in 100 m, 200 m, 400 m and 800 m. She was the first Indian woman to complete 100m in 12 seconds, beating the previous record of 12.1 by Mary D'Souza, at

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

in 1956. She was eliminated in the first round of the 400 m in the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

after finishing sixth despite setting a national record of 58.0 seconds. She took part in the 100 yards and 220 yards sprints in the

1958 Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: ''Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad'' 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18 to 26 July 1958. It was the sixth edition of what would come to be known as the Commonwealth Games, the ...

. D'Souza represented India in the first international women's hockey tournament in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1953 and captained the side in 1961. Stephie D'Souza won 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 ...

presented by the Government of India. She died in

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

(Jharkhand) at the age of 61.

National and international competitions

Bibliography

* K.R. Wadhwaney, ''Arjuna Awardees'', Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, 2002,

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Souza, Stephie 1936 births 1998 deaths Indian female sprinters Field hockey players from Goa Athletes from Goa Sportswomen from Goa Indian Roman Catholics Olympic athletes for India Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Arjuna Award Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 Asian Games Commonwealth Games athletes for India Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games athletes for India Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 1954 Asian Games Medalists at the 1958 Asian Games Olympic female sprinters Asian Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Asian Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field)

Early life

National and international competitions

See also

Bibliography

References