Ashwini Nachappa Biography 
Ashwini Nachappa is a former athlete from Karnataka, who has been successful in the 1980s when top athletes like P. T. Usha ruled the scene. She outran P.T. Usha on two separate occasions, which helped Ashwini to gain popularity a lot in the 1980s. She has also acted in a few Telugu films in the 1990s, which includes her own biopic titled – Ashwini, which is a unique record also. She played onscreen herself, which helped her to bag Nandi award for best debut actress in 1991. Inspector Aswani (1993), Aadarsham (1993), Miss 420 (1995) and Andharu Andhare (1996) are other movies in which she played female protagonist. She is also known as a social worker and educationist.
She was born in Karnataka on October 21, 1967. Her early years were spent in Kolkata where her father worked for Birla Rayon. At the age of 6, she moved to Bangalore. Since the age of 6 or 7, she used to beat boys of her class in 50m races. Since then she had an intense desire to race like the wind. Her mother was a motivator and also her PT teachers who encouraged her a lot. In 1982 Asian Games, she was the youngest member of the Indian camp in Patiala, and she was studying in 8th standard then. She has been into this field since she was 10 and it was her passion which helped her to enjoy the journey since young.
She was into the field when P.T.Usha was the glowing star of Indian athletics and she used to say in mind for every race, “I should finish second” and in most occasions she finished second. Quite surprisingly she outran P.T. Usha on two separate occasions, which helped her to gain the title - India's FloJo. She represented India in many international events including South Asian Federation Games in 1984 for which she won 2 silver medals; in 1986 for which she won 2 silver medals and in 1988 at Pakistan for which she won 2 gold medals. Two participated in two Asian games and two World Championships too.
Currently she serves as the president of the Bangalore Urban District Athletics Association and is known for her philanthropic activities. In 1988, she received the prestigious Arjuna Award.
Published: N/A
Updated: December 11, 2015
