Olympic Gold Quest is extremely proud to announce that it will be supporting star 400m Hurdler Ashwini Akkunji.
Akkunji, an athlete from Siddapura, Udupi district of Karnataka shot to stardom with her athletic skills in just two months in 2010. The 23 years old athlete made the country proud as she was part of the famous Golden Quartet that won the 400m Relay gold medals in both the CWG 2010, New Delhi and at the 2010 Asian Games at Guangzhou. But, Ashwini really shot to prominence with her stunning performance in the women’s 400m Hurdles final at the Asian Games 2010 when she powered to another Gold medal.
Commenting on the OGQ support, a delighted Ashwini said, “The last 7-8 months have been like a dream for me after winning the Gold medals at the CWG and Asian Games. I have got so much love and recognition from all Indians. I’m grateful to all the girls in the 4x400m team, our coach Yuri, the AFI and the Sports Ministry. And now, the support of OGQ has arrived at the perfect time as my preparations for the Olympics 2012 have begun in earnest. I am so pleasantly surprised at the pace at which OGQ have moved to get specialized treatment for my injured wrist and to get procure nutritional supplements which are not available in India. All these things are crucial to my preparations”
CEO of Olympic Gold Quest, Viren Rasquinha, gushed about OGQ’s latest athlete, “Ashwini has improved by leaps and bounds. Her built and running style are perfectly suited to the 400m hurdles event. We are delighted to have her as part of the OGQ program and she is a wonderful role model for so many young athletes around the country. We believe that she has genuine potential to challenge for an Olympic medal in the women’s 400m Hurdles event. OGQ plans to help her with her entire training needs with focus on specialized medical support and nutrition.”
Olympic Gold Quest is a Not For Profit Foundation that supports the training and preparation of 25 sportspersons across 4 individual Olympic sports viz. Badminton, Boxing, Shooting and Athletics. The mission of OGQ is to help Indian athletes win Olympic Gold medals.
OGQ’s Board of Directors comprises of Geet Sethi (8 times World Billiards Champion, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Padmashree Awardee), Prakash Padukone (All England Champion and Padmashree Awardee), Leander Paes (12 time Tennis Grand Slam Champion), Viswanathan Anand (4 Time World Chess Champion), Niraj Bajaj (4 time National Table Tennis Champion, Arjuna Awardee and Chairman and MD, Bajaj Group of Companies), R Ramaraj (Senior Adviser, Sequoia Capital India), Shitin Desai (Vice Chairman, DSP Merrill Lynch), Rakesh Khanna (Founding Partner, Ambit RSM), Neeraj Bharadwaj (Managing Director, Accel Partners) and Deepika Padukone (Acclaimed Actor).
Ashwini Akkunji’s personal best in 400m Hurdles – 56.15secs (Asian Games 2010, Guangzhou)
Major Achievements:
- Gold Medal in 400m Hurdles and 4x400m Relay, Asian Games, Guangzhou, 2010
- Gold Medal in 4x400m Relay, Commonwealth Games, New Delhi, 2010
