Preeja Sreedharan Biography 
Preeja Sreedharan is a former Indian athlete from Idukki, Kerala. A long-distance runner and national record holder, she has won many medals for team India and is known for her outstanding performance. She won gold medal in the 10,000 metres event and silver in 5000 metres at the Guangzhou Asian Games 2010 and also holds Indian national record for both these events. She represented India at 2008 Beijing Olympics, though she could finish only 25th at Olympic 10,000 metres. For her outstanding contributions to Indian sports, she has been honoured with the Arjuna Award for Athletics in 2011. Preeja was also selected as Manorama Newsmaker of the year 2010. In 2014 annual Delhi Half Marathon, Preeja stood as the winner.
Preeja was born in a sleepy village Mullakanam of Idukki, Kerala - the place known for beautiful landscape. She was born on 13 March 1982 to Sreedharan and Remani. She has two elder siblings. She graduated from Alphonsa College, Pala and got married in 2012 to Dr. Deepak Gopinath from Palakkad. Currently she works in Indian railways as Superintendent in Railway Division, Palakkad. This golden girl from Kerala spent in tracks for more than two decades and got retired at the age of 32, to spend more time with family though she was able to continue with her performances.
Through her hard work and dedication, she rose to become one of the finest long distance runners India has ever produced. Though she participated in 2006 Asian Games, she could finish only at fifth in both her favourite events. But the following year she won a silver medal at 10,000 meters at 2007 Asian Championships at Amman which qualified her to Beijing Olympics. But it was year 2010 which she delivered the finest performance through winning two medals in Asian Games. She along with Sudha Singh clinched the gold medals in the women's 10,000m at the Aoti main stadium.
Published: N/A
Updated: April 03, 2016
