P. U. Chitra – Talented athlete from Palakkad

P. U. Chitra is a talented young athlete from Palakkad, Kerala. Mundur is her hometown. This runner won gold medals at the 2016 South Asian Games, 2017 Asian Championships and 1500m race at Asian athletics championships 2019, thus marking her name among the most successful female athletes of present decade. Like many athletes from Kerala who has given some stunning wins at several international championships, Chitra too belongs to a very poor family with both her parents working as agricultural labourers.

P. U. Chitra was born in 1995 in Palakkad district of Kerala. Born into a poor family of labourers, she has been a successful athlete right from the childhood winning gold in almost all school meets in which she participated. Though her parents were poor and couldn’t afford her protein rich food and other requirements, they fully supported her. Chitra too never complained about it though her parents couldn’t give her the best training facilities. She studied at Mundur Higher Secondary School in Palakkad, and she was coached by her Physical Education school teacher, Sijin. V. S who played an important role in shaping her early days as a professional.

Her fight against Athletic Federation brought her to the attention of national media where she was supported by many. Despite winning gold at Asian Championship she was denied a ticket to participate in World Cup 2017, though the media had earlier finalized her to make into the list. It also created a lot of controversies. With her stunning gold win in women’s 1500m race at Asian athletics championships held at Dhoha in 2019, she made a sweet revenge to the selectors who once denied her participation in World Cup 2017 citing that her performance is not up to the mark.

P. U. Chitra – Some interesting and unknown facts

1. Her full name is Palakkeezhil Unnikrishnan Chithra.

2. She got fully determined to become an athlete at the age of 13.

3. Unlike many successful athletes with international medals, P. U. Chitra was coached by her Physical Education teacher since class 7, and also attributed her early international wins too, including 2016 South Asian Games and 2017 Asian Championships.

4. While she was studying in class 7, she was intrigued by senior girl students taking part in sports events.

5. Since her Class 9, she has never won a medal less than gold in championships.

6. Born into a poor family which was not able to provide her with protein food or good coaching, she never complaint about it.

7. When she won gold at Asian Championships, every media outlet reported that it was her direct ticket to World Cup, yet her name was not in the final list. Selectors were not impressed by her performances. Her coach felt that as he was merely a school teacher and not an acclaimed coach, ego hurt many, and opened doors for her exit.

8. She was participating in a training camp, in preparation for the World Championships, when she came to know that her name was not in the list.

9. With her stunning win in 2019 Asian championships, she defended the title she had won in the 2017 edition of the same tournament giving third gold medal to India in this edition of the tournament.