Thonnakkal Gopi's Rio outing with a Vijayi touch

KOCHI: Vijayi KP, a retired physical education teacher from GHSS Kakkavayal, Wayanad has been on cloud nine ever since her ward Thonnakkal Gopi secured a place in Rio Olympics marathon event. It was Vijayi who spotted the athlete in Gopi when she found a fifth standard boy running with some serious pace in her school compound.
She started training him for school level cross country championships before introducing him to 600m race in the seventh standard.Gopi's performances at the lower primary school days weren't anything extraordinary.
However, Gopi made an instant impression at the college level as he won both the 5,000m and 10,000m race in the MG University Athletics Meet in 2007. His performances on the track soon landed him a job in the Indian Army. His love for athletics saw him participating in different athletics events held throughout the country in the last eight years but the breakthrough for Gopi came in dramatic circumstances in the Mumbai marathon held earlier in the year.
Gopi, who had never run a marathon in his life came to Mumbai in January this year, as a pace-setter for fellow army man Nitendra Singh Rawat. His initial plan was to run 35 kilometres. But Gopi felt his pace was good after completing 35 kilometres and decided to run the full distance. He secured a creditable 11th place in overall standings and was the second best Indian in the race in Mumbai marathon with a time of 2.16.15s. The time was good enough to ensure his qualification for Rio, an accomplishment he hardly fathomed. But all this, he says, wouldn't have been possible without the support and guidance of Vijayi teacher.
"Vijayi teacher is like my mother. It was pretty tough for someone like me to reach such levels as I come from a poor background. She took me home and made sure that I ate nutritious food. If she was not there I wouldn't have achieved anything in my life."
Self-confidence is the key to Gopi's success, reckons Vijayi teacher. "He was a hard worker and was keen to give valuable tips to kids who used to train with him in his school days. They always treated him like a role model," she said.
The 28-year old, who has been working as a havaldar in Indian Army's Artillery Centre, Hyderabad, says the training in Army has played a huge role in moulding his career. Before shifting to Bengaluru for the final Olympic preparation, Gopi went through a rigorous training routine under current coach Surinder Singh Bhandari at Ooty. But more than anything, Gopi wants to make his teacher proud in Rio. "My journey has been tough and it is just because of my teacher I am boarding the flight to Rio. Olympic participation is a huge dream come true moment for me. There are two goals, one is to mark my best timing and second is to finish the race in top-15. But more than all these, I want to make my teacher proud," signs off Gopi.