It was a golden double for Pudukottai athlete L. Suriya at the South Asian Games in Guwahati.
Suriya, an employee of Southern Railway, Tiruchi division, won the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres titles and set new games record in both the events.
On Tuesday, she clocked 15:45.75 in the 5,000 metres and broke the previous record of 15:56.46 set by Sunitha Rani in 1999. On Thursday, she covered 10,000 metres clocking an impressive 32:39.86 and erased Preeja Sreedharan’s record of 34:27.13 set in 2006.
“We are very proud that an athlete from Pudukottai has won two gold medals for the country,” said S. Loganathan of Kavinadu Youth Sports Club, Suriya’s father and first trainer.
Suriya had won a double (5,000 m and 10,000 metres gold medals) at the national athletic meets before. But achieving such a feat at the international-level is “a dream come true,” said Mr. Loganathan, attributing her success to the Indian coach Surender Singh.
P.VR. Sekaran, president, Kavinadu Youth Sports Club, commended the efforts of Suriya.
