"Going to the Olympics is a big aim for me, but have to work very hard for it" - Indian sprinter Daneshwari AT

In June 2021, Daneshwari Ashok Thakkannavar was named the replacement for the injured Hima Das in the women’s 4x100m relay team. It came in the qualification race for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 (held in 2021) at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Patiala.

The team, which also included national record holder Dutee Chand, Archana Suseendran, and S Dhanalakshmi, clocked 44.15 seconds, falling short of the qualification standard of 43.03.

Dutee, however, participated in the 100m and 200m at the Olympic Games based on her world rankings. Meanwhile, Dhanalakshmi was part of the 4x400m mixed relay squad, though she didn’t participate in the heats. The dreams of Archana and Daneshwari were shattered to feature in the prestigious event, which is held every four years.

Daneshwari is currently ranked 520th in women’s 100m World Athletics rankings. A qualification in the Paris Olympics next year seems like a herculean task, but the dream is something that never lets her give up on the field. Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda in a telephone conversation, the 23-year-old said:

“Going to the Olympics is a big aim for me. But there is a big difference in the qualification time (11.07) for the Olympics and my timing (11.48). So I have to work really hard. I don't know what will happen but it's my dream to make it to the Olympics.”

Daneshwari hails from Karnataka’s Belgaum district and her parents are into farming. Sports wasn’t something that they would vouch for their daughter’s professional career. Thanks to her teachers who spotted her sprinting at the government school premises in Perala, and the young girl was counseled to consider athletics.

The foundation for an aspiring sports career was laid when she was enrolled in the DYES sports hostel in Vidyanagar, Bengaluru in 2013 from 8th grade onwards.

The Karnataka athlete won two silver medals in the 100m and 200m in the first National U-23 Athletics Championship 2021 in the national capital. She was second to Delhi’s Taranjeet Kaur in both instances. She elevated her medal color to gold a year later in the women’s 100m with a timing of 11.63 seconds in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.

She was part of the victorious 4x100m relay team which won gold medal at the Balkan Relay Cup 2022 in Erzurum, Turkey. She finished on the podium with Hima Das, S Dhanalakshmi, and Jilna VM.

Injury forces Daneshwari out from Asian Games trials

Hima Das received a provisional suspension for three whereabouts failures and Dutee Chand is serving a four-year ban for doping, both by NADA this year. Hence, a new Indian women’s 4x100m relay team was formed. Daneshwari was considered in the core group with Srabani Nanda, Jyothi Yarraji, and Nithya Gandhe in build-up to the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

But destiny had its own plans as the young sprinter twisted her ankle ahead of the inter-state competition in Odisha. She missed the competition and was out of the national camp for a while. This even forced the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to replace her with Madhya Pradesh’s Vijaya Kumari in the relay team at the Indian Grand Prix in Chandigarh. It was also a qualification event for the Asian Games.

“I was disappointed when the list came out (and I wasn’t in it) but I spoke to my coaches. They said we are trying to take you into the camp. Eventually I need to perform. If I perform well they will know that Daneshwari has done well and if she’s in the team we could win. So that’s how I practiced with self-confidence after recovering from the injury,"she said.

Daneshwari won bronze in the Indian Grand Prix in women’s 100m and was part of the relay team that won silver with a timing of 45.36s. She rued the fact that she couldn’t run with the main team after they missed the qualification time. The gold-medal winning team clocked 44.66s, missing AFI’s qualification mark of 44.50s.

“Our girls ran in 44.66 seconds and the qualification cutoff was 44.50 seconds. In the AG, the third position was 44.9 something. So if a team was taken we could have got a medal right? We might have got silver itself - 44.32 seconds was the silver medal timing. If there was a good fight we might have even got silver,” the Indian athlete expressed disappointment on the team missing out on participation in Hangzhou.

Neeraj Chopra as role model and learnings from Jyothi Yarraji

On August 7, 2021, many Indian fans were thrilled and overjoyed with Neeraj Chopra’s elusive gold medal in track and field events of the Tokyo Olympics. Daneshwari, just like many others, found her idol in the Panipat-born athlete. Nonetheless, her parents are her top role models at any point.

“Neeraj Chopra has been one of my role models but my parents have always been my role models. Having seen their struggles and hard work in life, I was inspired to do this,” the 23-year-old said.

Daneshwari will also take a leaf from fellow sprinter and Asian Games medallist Jyothi Yarraji. Sharing her personal experience with India’s rising sprinter, Daneshwari said:

“Before the Asian Games, we were in SAI, Trivandrum where she was my room partner for 10-15 days. Her dedication to the sport and event, the concentration she gave for it, and her diet, it was very good. Seeing that I felt I am well behind her in that regard and I have to learn how she maintains her diet and her dedication.”

The Karnataka youngster will tilt her focus to the domestic competitions of 2024. She will look to put the hard yards to rekindle her speed in a bid to get back to the women’s 4x100m relay side. She is currently training at Sports Authority of India in Trivandrum.