Zee Exclusive: Naganathan Pandi – Toiled as construction worker, now a police constable and 4x400m Olympian

Growing up, Naganathan never had it easy. His father’s meagre income from working as a construction or agricultural labourer was what fed the five children and their homemaker mother.

He’s made it to the Tokyo Olympics 4x400m relay and will be representing India at the Games later this month. But, his parents – Pandi, a construction labourer and Panchavarnam, a homemaker – hardly have any inkling of how significant their son’s feat is. However, for his colleagues at the Tamil Nadu Police, this is a historic leap as one from their service has made it to the world’s biggest sporting event. Zee News English spoke to the 25-year old sprinter to understand his journey so far. Growing up, Naganathan never had it easy. His father’s meagre income from working as a construction or agricultural labourer was what fed the five children and their homemaker mother. It was a struggle for his parents to even make ends meet, while also ensuring that the five children got their education. After they turned 15, Naganathan and his brother worked as construction labourers, ferrying material and performing masonry over the weekends to support their family.  It was around 10th grade (aged 15) that Naganathan had taken to running. His foray was purely out of fascination from seeing his peers succeed on the track in his village school. He started off as a barefoot runner, as shoes were too much of a luxury. With the support of his physical training teacher from school he ran 1500m races. Following his encouraging performance, the school gifted him a pair of running spikes, by the time he was in 12th grade.