Rakshitha Raju
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| Born | 15 January 2001 Chikmagalur, India | |||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Paralympic athletics | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Rakshitha Raju (born 15 January 2001)[1] is an Indian runner, who is visually impaired. She takes part in the women's 1500 metres T11 category. She was selected for the Indian team that took part in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Para Games. She won the gold medal Asian Para Games behind China's Shanshan He.[2][3] Later, Shanshan was disqualified and Raju was promoted to take the gold medal.[2] She clocked 5 minutes, 21.45 seconds. Being a visually handicapped runner, Rakshitha completed the race with the help of a guide Rahul Balakrishna.
Rakshitha hails from Baluguddanahalli village in Chikkamagalur district.[4] She was a student of Asha Kirana Andha Makkala Shale (blind school) in Chikkamagaluru. She learnt her basics under coach and mentor Balakrishna,[5] who is also her guide runner.[2] She was introduced to Balakrishna by her initial guide runner Sowmya at Asha Kirana school. She lost both her parents at an early age and was brought up by her grandmother, who was dumb and deaf. She was a product of the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru.[6] Rahul was her first coach.[7]