Preeja Sreedharan (born 13 March 1982 at Mullakkanam, Idukki, Kerala) is an Indian long-distance runner. She holds the national records in both the 10,000 metres and 5000 metres disciplines, which she set en route to the gold and silver medals at 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. Sreedharan was conferred with the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting honour by the central government in 2011. Sreedharan's breakthrough came in 2007, when she won the silver medal in both the disciplines at the Asian Athletics Championships. She bettered her personal bests and the Indian national records in both the 10000 and 5000 meters at 2010 Asian Games; she won the gold in the 10000 meters and the silver in 5000 meters. She announced her retirement from international circuit in February 2015. At the 2006 Asian Games, Sreedharan finished fifth in both the 5000 and the 10,000 metres. At the 2007 Asian Championships at Amman she won the silver medals in the two events. She qualified for the Beijing Olympics in June 2008 after achieving a B qualifying mark for the Games and then finished twenty-fifth in the Olympic 10,000 metres. Sreedharan achieved her personal best of 31:50:28 minutes in the 10,000 metres en route to the gold medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games; she also broke the Indian national record with the performance. Sreedharan also won the silver medal in 5000 metres at the event. With the time of 15:15.89 minutes, she also bettered the national record in 5000 meters. Sreedharan was selected as Manorama Newsmaker of the year 2010. The selection was done through an online SMS voting from public. The finalists with Preeja were, Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy, Njhanpeedam winner and famous Malayalam poet ONV Kurup and famous politician, and financial minister K. M. Mani. Sreedharan was the fastest Indian woman at the 2014 Delhi Half Marathon. She also participated at the 2014 Asian Games, but was unable to win any medal. Sreedharan announced her retirement from international competitions in February 2015. She said that she would participate in her last competition at the 2015 National Athletics Championships: "With the next national games, I would leave the track for ever. The decision was taken to focus on family life, I would continue to strive for promoting athletics." Most Important landmarks in career • She is the Indian athlete to represent India in 10000m in Olympics. She qualified for the Beijing Olympics in June 2008 after achieving a B qualifying mark for the Games and then finished twenty-fifth in the Olympic 10,000 metres. • She won Gold medal in the 10,000 metres event and Silver medal in 5000 metres at the Guangzhou Asian Games 2010. • She holds Indian national record for both 5000 and 10,000 metres as on 18.10.2020. • At the 2007 Asian Championships at Amman, she won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres and 5000 Meters. • Her personal best for the 10,000 metres is 31:50:28 minutes in Guangzhou Asian Games. This is the current Indian national record . • Her personal best for the 5000 metres is 15:15 minutes in Guangzhou Asian Games. This is the current Indian national record. • She was selected as Manorama Newsmaker of the year 2010( Kerala State ).
