 Mercy Kuttan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mercy Matthews-Kuttan | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Indian | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1 January 1960 Kerala, India | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | India | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 400 metres, Long jump | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mercy Kuttan (born 1 January 1960) is a former Indian track and field athlete. She was the first Indian woman long jumper to cross six meters. [1] In 1989, Mercy received Arjuna Award for her contribution to the Indian athletics. [2] [3]
Mercy was born in Kerala; her first international success came in 1981 Asian Championships in Athletics when she won the double bronze in the long jump and 4 x 400 metres relay. In the next year at 1982 Asian Games when she won a silver medal in the long jump. [4] She represented India in long jump at 1983 World Championships in Athletics, but did not qualify for the final round. [5] Mercy has the distinction of being the first woman from Kerala to win a medal in the Asian Track and Field meet. [4] Her personal best in long jump is 6.29 m.[ citation needed ] In the latter stage of her career she switched to sprint and started competing in 400 metres. She competed in 400 metres at 1988 Seoul Olympics and managed to reach the second round. [6]
Mercy is married to Murali Kuttan, a former 400 metres national champion and is the mother of two sons, Suraj Kuttan and Sujith Kuttan. Mercy and Murali were the first Indian athletic couple to be national champions and win Asian medals. [7] Murlai took the role of the coach and had influenced Mercy to shift from long jump to 400 metres. Both Mercy and Murali worked for Tata Steel, Jamshedpur. They are currently[ when? ] running the "Mercy Kuttan Athletics Academy" in Kochi. [8]
Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha is an Indian sports administrator and retired track and field athlete. Usha was born in Koothali near Perambra in Kozhikode district, Kerala. She grew up in Payyoli. Usha has been associated with Indian athletics since 1979. She has won 4 gold medals and 7 silver medals in the Asian Games. She is often associated as the "Queen of Indian track and field".
Shiny Kurisingal Wilson is a retired Indian athlete. She has been a National Champion in 800 metres for 14 years. Shiny Abraham Wilson represented India more than 75 times in international competition. She holds the added distinction of representing Asia in four World Cups. She is also perhaps the only athlete to have taken part in six Asian Track & Field Meets in a row beginning 1985 in Jakarta. During this period she won seven gold, five silver and two bronze medals in the Asian competitions. She collected a total of 18 gold and two silver medals from the seven South Asian Federation (SAF) Meets she has competed.
Jean Catherine Pickering was a female track and field athlete from Great Britain, who competed mainly in the 80 metres hurdles and long jump.
Manathoor Devasia Valsamma is a retired Indian athlete. She was the second Indian woman to win an individual gold medal at the Asian Games and the first to win it on Indian soil.
Asami Chiba, or Tanno, is a Japanese sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She is the Japanese record holder in the event, and has also broken the national record in the 4×400 metres relay on multiple occasions. She is a member of Natureal Athlete Club in Japan and is coached by Kazuhisa Kawamoto.
Indoor athletics at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games was held in Hanoi Indoor Games Gymnasium, Hanoi, Vietnam from 31 October to 2 November 2009.
Tintu Luka is an Indian track and field athlete, who predominantly competes in the middle-distance running events. Born in Valathode, Kerala, she is the national record holder in the women's 800 metres. Luka represented India at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. In addition to being the 2015 Asian Champion in the 800 meters, she has won a total of six medals at the Asian Athletics Championships.
Mayookha Johny is an Indian track and field athlete from Kerala who specialises in long jump and triple jump. She holds the current Indian National record for triple jump with a mark of 14.11 m. She is the first Indian woman to cross the fourteen-metre mark.
Murali Kuttan was an Indian track and field athlete who represented the country as a sprinter on several occasions. He won the 400 metres gold in the Indo-Russian athletic meet in 1978. In the same year, he also won the bronze in the 400 metres at the Asian Games in Bangkok. He was married to former olympian athlete Mercy Kuttan.
Omar Jouma Bilal Al-Salfa, Arabic: عمر جمعة بلال السالفة, is a track and field athlete from the United Arab Emirates who competes in sprinting events. He was a gold medallist at the 2009 Asian Athletics Championships and represented his country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Wassana Winatho, also known as Amornrat Winatho and Vassanee Vinatho, is a Thai track and field athlete who specialises in the heptathlon and the 400 metres hurdles. She represented Thailand at the 2008 Summer Olympics and competed at five consecutive editions of the Asian Games.
Chen Yaling is a Chinese track and field athlete who competes in the long jump. She represented China at the World Championships in Athletics in 2007 and has appeared twice at the Asian Games.
Yevgeniy Ektov is a Kazakhstani track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump. He represented his country at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and the World Championships in Athletics in 2009 and 2011. He was the triple jump gold medallist at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships and was runner-up at the 2010 Asian Games. Ektov has also won medals at the Asian Indoor Games and Asian Indoor Athletics Championships. His personal best for the event was 17.07 metres, set in 2008, improved to 17.22, set in 2012. He is married to Irina Ektova.
In India, the sport of athletics was introduced during the period of the British Raj. The sport is governed at national level by the Athletics Federation of India, which was formed in 1946. Despite its large population, few Indian athletes have won a medal in a global or major championship. This began to change in the 21st century, when Indians started taking greater interest in athletics more generally and improved facilities for the sport began to be built at a local level. At a continental level, it has been among the more successful Asian nations, though some distance behind China and Japan.
Bibin Mathew is an Indian track and field sprinter who competes in the 400 metres. He was the 2010 Asian Indoor Champion in the event and is a two-time South Asian Games gold medallist. He holds the Indian indoor record at 47.81 seconds, set in 2010.
The 2014 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships was the sixth edition of the international indoor athletics event between Asian nations. It took place at the Vocational and Technical College Athletics Hall in Hangzhou, China, between 15 and 16 February. The city was confirmed as the host in September 2013 at the 77th Council Meeting of the Asian Athletics Association. This was the second time the city held the event, successively following on from the 2012 Championships. A total of 28 nations were represented at the tournament comprising 26 track and field events.
Janieve Russell is a Jamaican track and field athlete who competes mainly in the 400 metres hurdles and the 400 metres sprint. She won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay in Tokyo 2021, where she also finished fourth in the 400m hurdles final in a personal best of 53.08 secs. She is a four-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, winning the 400m hurdles title in 2018 and 2022, and the 4 × 400 m relay in 2014 and 2018. She has also won two relay silvers at the World Championships and a relay gold at the World Indoor Championships.
Lu Minjia is a Chinese female track and field athlete who competes in the long jump. She was the 2009 World Youth Champion and set an Asian youth record of 6.74 m that same year. After an Asian Junior title, she was runner-up at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships. She won gold medals at the 2012 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships and the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships.
Hiromi "Kumi" Isozaki is a Japanese former track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events from 100 metres to 400 metres. She won four gold medals at the 1982 Asian Games, which she set three games records. She later won 400 m bronze at the 1986 Asian Games and a 200 metres bronze at the 1987 Asian Athletics Championships. She was also a three-time silver medallist in the 4×400 metres relay at continental level.
Seaman Muhammed Anas Yahiya is an Indian sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres distance. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 400 metres and the 4 × 400 m relay, and holds the national record (45.24) in the 400 meters, which he set at the 2019 Czech Athletics Championships.And finally he won a gold medal at the men's 4×400 metres relay event at the 2022 Asian Games.
