President Pratibha Patil greets Ashwini Akkunji at Rashtrapati Bhavan

President Pratibha Patil greets Ashwini Akkunji at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Mangalore Today News Network

December 6: President Pratibha Patil hailed the efforts of Indian athletes including Ashwini Akkunji, who brought glory to the country in the recently-concluded Asian Games at Guangzhou and encouraged them to maintain their golden run.

During a felicitation ceremony here at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Patil congratulated the Asian Games gold medal winners and greeted them with flowers.

Ashwini Akkunji, who raced to glory with her exemplary golden double in the women’s 400m hurdles and was also a part of the women’s 4x400m relay, expressed her gratitude to the people of country and said that without their support she would not have been able to attain the feat.


“When I was running it was quite heartening to see the people of my country cheering and supporting me. Although there were only few Indian fans present during the event but to see tears in their eyes after every run encouraged me and that is something I can never forget,” an elated athlete said.


“I am thankful to my parents who supported me. The credit goes to my coaches who motivated me to go a step forward,” added Ashwini.


The small town girl from the coastal town of Udupi in Karnataka said she trained really hard for the Asiad, particularly for the hurdles, even though she started just a month before the Games.


“I never expected a gold in hurdles as I started my preparations late for the event. But I tried to give my best,” insisted Ashwini, adding, “I still need to do a lot of things to improve and be in the reckoning for the Olympics’, she added.