Sad to see Kerala failing to keep its great tradition of female athletes: Valsamma

She keeps a low profile. M.D. Valsamma has preferred to be away from the public eye after retiring from the track as one of India’s finest athletes.

She won the 400m hurdles gold at the New Delhi Asian Games in 1982 and helped India qualify for the women’s 4x400m relay final at the Los Angeles Olympics four years later. She still cherishes those memories.

“I will never forget winning that gold in New Delhi, the way the stadium erupted, and all the accolades that followed,” Valsamma told The Hindu. “And yes, qualifying for the Olympics final is also just as unforgettable; the athletics world was surprised by our show.”

Two of her teammates were also from Kerala — P.T. Usha and Shiny Wilson; the odd woman out was Karnataka’s Vandana Rao. She is worried that Kerala isn’t producing as many outstanding female athletes as it used to.

“It is almost shocking that no female athlete from Kerala has qualified for the Olympics since 2016,” she said. “For a State that has given India so many great athletes from my time onwards — Usha, Mercy Kuttan, Sreekumari Amma and I are all products of Kerala’s first sports hostel — it is indeed a sorry state of affairs.”

Valsamma feels a lot has to be done if the State wants to regain its lost glory. “We shouldn’t forget that most of our girls in athletics come from financially weak families and they need jobs,” she said. “Now there are few job opportunities. Our athletes should be funded properly and there should be enough physical education teachers at our schools.”

She recalled her career in sport owed to the physical education teacher at the Alakode NSS School in Kannur. “It was my teacher, N.J. Paul, who convinced my parents that I had the potential,” she said.

“He came to our home and told them that the Kerala Government was starting a sports hostel. That was how I attended the trials at Thrissur. I was initially in the wait-list, but later on I was able to join the first batch of Sports Hostel at Mercy College, Palakkad. Usha joined us a year later.”

It was there that Valsamma met coach A.K. Kutty, the man who would transform her into a top athlete. “Until I met him, I hadn’t had any scientific training in my life: I would just come and run, there was no warm-up, jogging or exercises,” she said. “And when he realised that I had a talent to clear the hurdles smoothly he began to train me for the 400m hurdles. We surely could do with more coaches like him.”