Khelo India 2022: I dedicate my medal to my sister Renu, says 100 metres champion Tamanna

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Tamanna, the effervescent Haryana girl who emerged as the fastest girl of Khelo India Youth Games on Friday afternoon, dedicated her first gold at the competitive level to her deceased elder sister.

Renu passed away in January 2022

"My sister Renu passed away after a sudden heart attack after Covid in January last year. I never thought that I will be able to come back to the track and the family went through some terrible times…I love her and want to dedicate this one to her,’’ an emotional Tamanna said during a chat with the Khelo India Media after the medal ceremony at the Tantia Tope Stadium.

The 18-year-old clocked a wind-assisted (+ 0.6m/s ne) timing of 12.16 secs and maintained her domination right through the race. Megha S of Kerala finished with a silver (12. 24), followed by Neole Anna Cornelio of Karnataka (12.27).

First appearance in KIYG 2022

This was her first appearance in Khelo India Youth Games, an event where her state Haryana had been overall champions last year and had been ruling the roost on all editions so far. "I have been really enjoying the festive atmosphere here, while the blue synthetic surface of the track has been really lucky for me. It offers a better bounce than the red one and it suited my style,’’ Tamanna observed.

Hailing from the Jind district of Haryana, she took to athletics seriously three years back in 2019. ‘’I used to initially play kho kho and when there were no matches, I loved running on my own. Then I told our games teacher to let me try my hand in running as kho

kho is a team game and one needs a good team to shine,’’ said the 18-year-old.

Things started happening for her in the first year itself when she landed a junior national medal and caught the eyes of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) spotters. "I had three bronzes to show so far and this is why the first gold here is so important here. I will now focus on sealing a national berth the Junior Asian meet later this year and need to work on improving my timing,’’ she added