Puttur: Abhishek N Shetty, a resident of Savanur Nadubail in Kadapa taluk has been awarded the coveted 2019 Ekalavaya Award for his achievement in sports.
Abhishek, son of Nadubail Jagannath Shetty and Tulsini Shetty, has made national records in the decathlon and represented India in international sporting events.
He broke a 16-year-old national record in 2011. At the 56th Open National Athletics Championships, he broke a 25-year-old state record. He has also broken a 29-year-old Karnataka State senior record and 18-year-old Indian Railways record.
He has won gold medals at the 2015 National Championships in Kerala, the Federation Cup Athletics Championship in Mangaluru, the Open National Athletics Championships in Chennai in 2017 and the Federation Cup Athletics Championships in Patiala.
Additionally, he was first for six times in the Open National Athletics Championships held between 2014 and 2019, 6th place in Mauritius in 2015, 5th place at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar in 2017 and 4th in the Asian Indoor Games in Turkmenistan.
Speaking to Udayavani, Abhishek said: "While I was at the Government High Primary School, Nailyady, physical education teacher Janardhan C encouraged me to participate in all competitions. I began decathlon during the last year of graduation on the advice of coach Vasant Jogi at Alvas College. I was successful in it. The motivation of the coaches and Mohan Alva of Alvas College is the reason for my achievement."
