City's former athlete plans to open academy for youngsters

Former national record holder for 100m sprint, Rachita Mistry was the face of ‘10k Intencity Run’ which are multiple marathon runs organised in 10 different cities. Although the former athlete is glad about the long-winded event, being a sprinter, Mistry feels that there should be such initiatives for 100m or 200m races as well.

To pursue this, she applied for Voluntary Retirement and retired in 2013. The 43-year-old was working with central railway for 22 years but it was her dream to always come back to her passion. Currently, Mistry is devoting her time to train young athletes with their technique and skills at the Priyadarshini Park, Malabar Hill. “I want to open my own academy in the near future which will help the young sprinter build speed and strength. The state of athletics needs to improve and I want encourage people even it starts on a small level,” she says talking about her post retirement plans.

“I am really overjoyed with the fact that there are marathons events that are taking place in the city but if it were in my hand and I had the resources, I would do the same for sprinters. There are very few events on the big stage that allow young sprinters to come out and match their talent with other athletes. Private organisations arrange marathons but not 100metres or 200metres races,” she adds.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, Rachita was hitting all ends up. She was a promising athlete of that generation who broke P. T. Usha’s national 100m record in mind, and quite rightly so, as she was the part of the Asian Games squad since her teenage years. “I was on a roll back then and it was one unfortunate day that I when I was working out and I suffered a brutal hamstring injury. This accident was the turning point of my life after which I became more and more inclined to my family,” she says.

Mistry has a gold medal from Asian Championships 1998 and a bronze medal from 2000 to her name. “We didn’t have any terrific training facilities back then but now there are good tracks in Mumbai for practicing. I also feel that the coaches need some training themselves so that can translate it to their students. And every person should keep learning as they grow up,” says the athlete talking about the infrastructure.

As she talks about the ‘10k Intencity Run’ she says, “I am delighted to see that Anand (Founder of 10k and Andy Event Management) has taken this initiative and I will be there to support him in the Mumbai leg in December. I will participate but I don’t think I’ll be the toughest competitor because I am a sprinter and we are not used to running such long distances.”

Rachita comes from a sports background and the sprinter has passed the legacy on to her daughter, who aspires to become an asset to Indian sports.