When I was in school, the school celebrities who were usually the athletes, were defined by their absence. They came in to write exams, disappeared again, and returned months later with medals and accolades we heard about but never saw earned. Their names travelled faster than they did, and we joked about how easy their lives must be to skip school and play games all day. What we never saw was how much of childhood they traded, and how lonely that kind of discipline can be.
At the recently concluded Track Asia Cup, a UCI Class-2 cycling competition in Chennai, we met four teenage girls who are living a version of the same trade-off. Niraimathi Jesudasan, Jai Jyotshna, Thabitha S and Srimathi Jesudasan move through days split between early-morning training, self-study done in fragments, and long hours spent with coaches, teammates and competition. Much of their time is structured, supervised, and purposeful, leaving little space for anything that does not directly serve the next session on the track.
The Track Asia Cup awards international ranking points towards their Olympic campaigns and features riders from across Asia. Track cycling is raced on steeply banked oval velodromes, where rankings are decided by margins of time and position.
(L-R) Thabitha S, Srimathi J and Jai Jyotshna
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
“We come from a very poor background, all our equipment, shoes, and cycles were given to us by Kanimozhi ma’am (Thoothukkudi MP, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi). The more medals we won, the more she helped us, so we got the confidence to keep going,” says Niraimathi Jesudasan who hails from Thoothukkudi. Niraimathi fared well under the Women Elite – Time Trial category finishing 1km at 1 minute 24 seconds in this tournament. “It is difficult when I compete with seniors, but this is my first year competing in the elite category, and I’m enjoying the difficulties,” says the 19-year-old.
Her older sister, Srimathi Jesudasan also fared well in two categories; Women Elite – Keirin, and Women Elite – Sprint. “My father was a tailor and we went through a lot during the pandemic. I participated in the Thoothukkudi district championshiop for cycling and won a gold medal after only training for a few months, and the more I trained, the more medals I won. I have around 20 medals in various championships now,” she says.
“When I lived in Coimbatore, a mud tracked opened near my house, and I only had an MTB bike then. I participated in the club race and came in third without any practice. This motivated my parents to find a coach who can help me hone my skills, and I started training seriously. I then participated in road cycling, and eventually started track when we moved to Chennai,” says 18-year-old Jai Jyotshna A, who came in fifth under the Women Junior – Sprint category at the Asia Cup. “I train from 9am to 11am, then after lunch I study for exams because I’m in 12th class now. I spend all my rest and recovery time studying, and then go back to training,” she says. She is currently in Delhi NCOE camp training for future championships.
Thabitha Shaffi
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The gold medal winner in Women Junior – Sprint category, Thabitha Shaffi, is an overall sports enthusiast. A kabbadi player, and athletics enthusiast, she participated in any sporting event she could get her hands on. “I participated in a local cycling race, and came in fourth position and the coach encouraged me to train more and focus on cycling. I was asked to quit kabbadi because of the high risk of injuries, so I quit that and focussed on road and track cycling more. I went to my first national camp in Hyderabad, then to Kerala,” she says. Over the years, the 18-year-old has won several medals including a silver medal at the Khelo India Youth Games held in Bihar in 2025.
The outdoor cycling track, the SDAT Velodrome in the TNPESU campus, where the championship was hosted, was built with international championship standards in mind. It was renovated to standards during the Khelo India Youth Games in 2023. “The access to sports has been made easy in the last few years. Since the TN Government has put effort into developing the infrastructure, young athletes feel motivated to participate more,” says M Sudhakar, President of Tamil Nadu Cycling Association (TNCA).
Srimathi Jesudasan
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
For all four of them, there is little sense of arrival. Training resumes the next morning, studies continue in the margins, and competitions come and go. “I started cycling at this very track, and to participate in an international event at the same track is a moment of pride for me. This is the beginning,” says Thabitha.
Published – February 04, 2026 04:56 pm IST
