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The twin sisters from Tamil Nadu, Ansilin M, and Akslin M, finally got the reward for their hard work, determination, and persistence as they bagged the Gold and Silver medals in the ongoing Khelo India Youth Games 2024.
Coming from the coastal village of Karankadu in Kanyakumari, the 18-year-olds didn't have enough facilities to train and compete at the highest level. To train on the synthetic tracks, they used to travel 85 km one way twice a week.
Born to a construction laborer, the twin sisters took running at an early age. However, they had to practice on the muddy grounds in the village, and constant rain in the area made it more difficult for them to make progress in their sports career.
"If we get a chance to practice on synthetic tracks regularly, we will achieve more" - Ansilin M
At the state-of-the-art blue turf in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Twin sisters Anisilin and Akslin bossed the 800 m race to grab the gold and silver medals, respectively.
However, Ansilin M didn't seem happy with her timing of 2:11.36. She felt it wasn't their best timing and they could have done better.
“We are happy to win these medals in Khelo India Youth Games but we are not fully happy as we couldn’t come up with our best timing,”said Ansilin M after winning the gold medal.
“We don’t have a synthetic track in our area. We used to practice only in mud ground which is so difficult. If we get a chance to practise on synthetic tracks regularly, we will achieve more," she added.
The twin sisters have been training under the coach Navlin Raja for over a year and a half now. Ever since joining him, they began to travel to Kanyakumari twice a week, while juggling their school as well.
In November 2023, the twin sisters won the silver and bronze medals at the Junior Athletics meet held in Coimbatore and they were determined to improve in the Khelo India Youth Games 2024.
On Wednesday (January 31) evening, they left Karnataka's Priyanka Olekar behind to win the gold and silver medal. Priyanka Olekar won the gold medal in Coimbatore.
