PU Chitra

PU Chitra
PU Chitra (center) with gold at the South Asian Games 2016
Full name	Palakkeezhil Unnikrishnan Chitra
nation	India
birthday	9th June 1995 (age 25)
place of birth	Palakkad , Kerala , India
size	160 cm
Weight	48 kg
Career
discipline	Middle distance run
Trainer	Nikolay Snezarev
status	active
Medal table
Asian Games 0 × 0 × 1 × Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games 1 × 0 × 0 × Asian Championships 2 × 0 × 0 × South Asian Games 1 × 0 × 1 ×
Asian Games bronze Jakarta 2018 1500 m Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games gold Ashgabat 2017 1500 m Asian Championships gold Bhubaneswar 2017 1500 m gold Doha 2019 1500 m South Asian Games gold Guwahati 2016 1500 m bronze Kathmandu 2019 1500 m
last change: December 10, 2019

Palakkeezhil Unnikrishnan Chitra (born June 9, 1995 in Palakkad , Kerala ) is an Indian athlete who specializes in middle-distance running.

Athletic career

PU Chitra gained her first international experience at the South Asian Games 2016 in Guwahati , where she won the gold medal over 1500 meters. The following year, she was continental champion at the Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar , where she actually received a bye for the World Championships in London , where she was not allowed to start. At the beginning of September she also won the gold medal at the Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat in 4: 27.77 minutes ahead of the two Kyrgyz women Gulschanoi Satarowa and Arina Kleschtschukowa . In 2018 she took part in the Asian Games in Jakarta for the first time and won the bronze medal there in 4: 12.56 minutes behind the two Ethiopians, Kalkidan Gezahegne and Tigist Gashaw , who started for Bahrain . In the following year she defended her title at the Asian Championships in Doha in 4: 15.56 minutes and thus received a bye for the World Championships there in October, where she was eliminated with a new best of 4: 11.10 minutes in the lead -up. Shortly thereafter, she won the bronze medal at the South Asian Games in Kathmandu in 4: 35.46 minutes behind UK Nilani Rathnayaka from Sri Lanka and her compatriot KM Chanda and finished fifth over 800 meters in 2: 13.13 minutes.

In 2018 and 2019 Chitra became Indian champion in the 1500 meter run and in 2019 also over 800 meters. She graduated from VTB College in Pallakad.

Lawsuit against the Indian Athletics Federation

In 2017, Chitra filed a lawsuit with the Kerala High Court against the Indian Athletics Federation (AFI) against their disregard for the World Championships in London . She actually had a bye for the championships because of the Asian title. The court found the athlete right and forced the association to nominate Raghavan, but the nomination period had already expired and the World Athletics Federation forbade her to start.

Top performances

• 800 meters: 2: 02.96 min, August 28, 2019 in Lucknow
• 1500 meters: 4: 11.10 min, October 2, 2019 in Doha
  • 1500 meters (hall): 4: 27.77 min, September 19, 2017 in Ashgabat

Web links

• PU Chitra in the database of World Athletics (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ PTI: IAAF rejects AFI's request to include Chitra for World Champ. The Times of India , July 30, 2017, accessed October 11, 2018 .