Sriteja Tholem, 19, from Bhadrachalam, has had a big week at the junior nationals. At the 41st Junior National Athletics Championships at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai, she won the U-20 women's heptathlon on Monday. Punjab's Alfaz Kaur Grewal and Uttarakhand's Jaskiran took the other podium places.
Two golds in two days
- Sunday: U-20 100m hurdles gold in 14.10 seconds. Kerala's Adithya (14.24) took silver and Tamil Nadu's Durga Sri Dinesh (14.28) bronze.
- Monday: gold in the seven-event heptathlon.
From a labourer's home to the national podium
Sriteja is the daughter of a daily-wage labourer. Coach Nagendra of Kothagudem spotted her at School Games meets. She now trains at the Gopi Chand Academy and is mentored by SAI coach Nagapuri Ramesh. In September, she scored 4,965 points at the South Zone championships in Puducherry to break a 32-year-old heptathlon record.
She has said her goal is to qualify in the 400m for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, calling it ambitious but saying her preparation has begun.