Mahindra Scorpio TOISA: Runner G Lakshmanan adjudged Athlete of the Year

MUMBAI: Distance runner G Lakshmanan was declared winner of the Athlete of the Year Award at the Mahindra Scorpio Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) powered by All-Out, in Mumbai on Monday.
Lakshmanan, 27, was nominated in the category of the leading Indian athletes of 2017 along with javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, shot-putter Manpreet Kaur, long jump specialist Neena Varakil, sprinter Mohammad Anas and middle and long-distance runner PU Chitra.He won on the basis of emerging victorious in two events at the Asian Athletics Championship and another at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, achievements which the six-member TOISA jury felt edged out the competition.
Lakshmanan won gold in the men's 5000m race on day one of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship in Bhubaneshwar, clocking 14 minutes 54.48 seconds to seal passage to the IAAF World Championships. He then added the 10,000m title - becoming the first Indian runner to win gold in 5,000m and 10,000m - with a winning time of 29.55.87.

At the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashbagat, Turkmenistan, Lakshmanan won the 3,000m in 8:02.30. At the World Championships in London, he clocked a personal best timing of 13 minutes 35.69 seconds but finished 15th in his heat and 31st overall. He also won the 5,000m race at the 57th National Open Athletics Championships with a time of 14:4.21.
Esteemed jury member Reeth Abraham, who won three gold medals and one silver at the international level and 16 gold and 11 silvers at the national level, felt that Lakshmanan's sustained success at major events was what made a difference.
"It was not a very good year for Indian athletics, unfortunately, but within the benchmarks for success you have to say that Lakshmanan carried India's flag admirably. To win two medals at the AAC counts and then another in Ashbagat counts for a lot when you look at the landscape of Indian athletics. Lakshmanan has really improved and his hard work is paying off," said Abraham, an Arjuna Award winner and the first Indian mother to break a national record and the South Asian Games record.