At the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, on Monday, Deepthi Jeevanji, the daughter of daily wage workers from Kalleda in Warangal, achieved an incredible feat. Only a few years ago, she couldn’t even afford a bus ticket to Hyderabad for training. She broke the previous record in the women’s 400-meter T20 event, winning gold in 55.07 seconds. This surpassed the previous record of 55.12 seconds set by American Breanna Clark in 2023 in Paris during the World Championships.
Deepthi got out to a great start, leading the opening 200 metres of the race. Deepthi made a desperate drive in the final five metres to win, even though Clark got closer. Aysel Onder of Turkey placed second with 55.19 seconds, and Lizanshela Angulo of Ecuador took third place with 56.68 seconds. Athletes with intellectual disability fall under the T20 division.
Coach Pullela Gopichand’s athletic talent search programme, the Gopichand-Mytrah Foundation, has played a part in Deepthi’s achievement.