Coimbatore: It’s never say die attitude that makes Vasantha Samuel of Ramanathapuram in the city and Sugirthamani Neelavathy of Palayamkottai in Tirunelvel tough athletes to beat even in their early 80s. And these two share a rare bond which blossomed in 1986 at an athletics event.If not for grey hair and wrinkled skin, the octogenarians clad in sports suits and sneaker shoes don’t look their age at all. Their physique is firm and flexible, and the undying spirit could be made out from the spark in their eyes.The common factor that binds Neelavathy, 82, and Vasantha, 81, is their determination not to give up their passion to pursue athletics citing age as a reason. “Our friendship sprouted on field, bloomed on field and it remains as fresh as when we first met in 1986,” they said in one tone as school going girls.Born at Palayamkottai in 1938, Neelavathy started to attend athletics events at the age of seven. She hasn’t taken a single break since then. “When I am on the track, the only thing in my mind is that I want to overtake the opponent.” Recalling how her mother helped her in her school days, Neelavathy said, “She used to stitch me pajamas so that I could run without tripping on my saree. My relatives and neighbours mocked at me when I wore pajamas and ran. My parents were, however, determined to support me.”As a child, Neelavathy excelled in long jump, triple jump, high jump and multiple meter race. She started to participate in masters athletic sports meet since 1983. She had got several opportunities to participate in international sports meets, but she could not make it due to an ear surgery. Hence, her achievements are limited to national level. Her record in 1,500 metres race is 7.33 minutes, in 800 metres it is 3 minutes and in 400 metres, it is 1.38 minutes. “The timing has almost doubled now,” she said.Pointing out that she had been participating only in races in the past couple of years, Neelavathy said, “Vasantha was my main competitor when I used to participate in long, triple and high jump. We always used to share the first two prizes at all level of competitions. We also always travel together for competitions.”Vasantha, meanwhile, recollected how they used to participate in different categories at district level just to travel together for state level competitions.A homeopathy doctor by profession, Vasantha became a shining athletes star after she started to bag medals at the national athletics meet continuously for the past 30 years. She has bagged medals five times in the Olympics and more than 11 times in the Asian veteran athletics meet.“We don’t feel we are old unless we are reminded of our age,” Vasantha said. As there are not many opponents for them, the two have now started to concentrate on improving their performance, rather than aiming to come first.The two on Sunday participated in the 36th masters athletics sports meet held at the Nehru stadium in the city. They would again meet for the state level meet, which would be held shortly.

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