The Indian quartet of Kiran Pahal, Poovamma Machettira, Prachi and Vithya Ramraj produced an exceptional performance to claim the gold medal in the women’s 4x400m relay at the Asian Games on Tuesday, finally breaking the yellow-metal jinx in the ongoing edition. Bahrain and China finished second and third, respectively. After the medal-winning performance, Prachi spoke to NDTV in an exclusive interview. Here are the excerpts:
The Indian team won the top prize with a time of 3:29.69, giving the country its first gold medal in track and field events at the ongoing Games.
The Indian quartet of Kiran Pahal, Poovamma Machettira, Prachi and Vithya Ramraj produced an exceptional performance to claim the gold medal in the women’s 4x400m relay at the Asian Games.
Last time I came to the Asian Games, I won a silver. Interviewer: With me right now is Prachi, who won the gold medal in the 4x400m relay today. Q: Prachi, this relay team was on the podium for the gold medal today.
Prachi, first show us your gold and bronze medals. Prachi is heading home not with just one, but two medals! Tell us about your experience. Prachi: It feels great, ma’am, that I’m heading back with two medals this time. So this time it feels great to have two medals, one in the individual event and a gold as well. I feel really good right now. Q: Last time too, you ran alongside Poovamma in the 4x400m relay. How different was that race compared to this one? It felt a bit sad back then that it was silver. But right after that, I decided that whenever the next Asian Games happened, I definitely had to bring back gold. Q: Four years is a very long time, Prachi. How difficult is it to maintain that tempo and keep your mind and body aligned? Prachi: Look, it is difficult, but we work really hard. We don’t take many breaks or go home often. Our focus is always on reducing our timing as much as possible. So we set a target every year, what we have to achieve this year and what we want to achieve the next year. How do you all train together? And if you stay together, how much time do you spend with each other every year? Prachi: We stay together in camp throughout the year. Our training sessions run for about three to four hours in the evening and two to three hours in the morning. So we put in a lot of hard work. Q: Tell me about some of your training moments and the experience of living together. Prachi: It feels nice. We stay together like a family. After all, we leave our families behind to come here, coming from different parts of India, like the South and the North. So it feels like this is our own family. We talk to each other. On Sundays, we make reels, chat or do some cooking. That’s how we spend time together. Q: You are from UP, and others are from different states, like Poovamma is from Karnataka and Kiran is from Haryana. Tell us about that ‘One India’ staying together, moving forward together and trying to improve. Tell us about the energy seen in such a camp. Prachi: Look, we come from different places. What we do is teach each other our languages, like how to say something in one language and what it’s called in another. Also, our food is quite different between the South and the North. I like a few things from the South, and they like a few things from our side. So we live together like a proper team. Q: Okay. Tell us a bit about your past, where you came from, how you started athletics and how many years it took you to achieve this gold medal. Prachi: I come from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. I started sports very late, during my final year of BA. Before that, I had Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. I was a mathematics student. But as soon as I entered sports, everything turned around. My life completely changed. I chose sports and left my studies aside for it. Then I started at NIS Patiala. I trained there, and that’s where I saw a sports track for the first time. Patiala is like my karmabhoomi (land of work). Just as we have a janmabhoomi (birthplace), we have a karmabhoomi. Patiala is my karmabhoomi. I did everything there, my studies and my sports. That’s also where I got my first job, in the Railways. Q: So did you complete your B.Sc. in PCM? Prachi: No, no. Q: What is your next target? Prachi: Next year is the Asian Championships, followed by the World Championships, and then the LA Olympics. So my targets are to achieve my personal best, bring back as many medals for my country as possible and represent my nation. That’s the goal. Interviewer: Well, our prayers are with you. We want to see you on the podium in LA. Thank you very much.
Because i directly started in the senior category, so I never played any junior competitions. So that place is special to me. Because i wanted to pursue sports, after that, I did my BA in Physical Education.
Prachi: That race was also very good for us, but we missed out on gold and had to settle for silver by just 20 microseconds. We stay in camp throughout the year and only go home for about 10 to 15 days. I did my 10+2 in PCM.
