Kunja Rajitha, a first-year B. Com. student at Paari School of Business, SRM University-A.P., Amaravati, is part of the Women’s 4×400 metres relay team that made history by clinching a gold on Day 3 of the 26th Asian Athletics Championship being held in South Korea on April 30, Thursday. The other three in her team included Jisna Mathew, Rupal Chaudhary and Subha Venkatesan. The quartet clocked the season-best time of 3:34.18s, edging past Vietnam and Sri Lanka in the finals, according to a report from the university. India won gold in the Women’s 4x400m relay at the Asian Athletics Championships after 12 years. The university’s Sports Director, Anup Singh Suryavanshi, congratulated Rajitha on her achievement and said it is a testament to her hard work and resilience. Her performance on such an international platform inspires all student-athletes nationwide, he added. SRM University Pro Vice-Chancellor Satish Kumar and Vice-Chancellor Manoj K Arora praised Rajitha and said her journey reminds one that students can rise to any challenge with the right support and determination. Her success adds to the growing legacy of the university as a hub for talent, they said. Rajitha hails from an inaccessible tribal village near Kunavaram in the Alluri Sitarama Raju district of Andhra Pradesh. Despite all odds, she continued her education while pursuing her dreams and became a national-level athlete, the release said. Rajitha bagged gold in the 400-metre sprint event at the Khelo India Youth Games-2022, held in Haryana. She also secured second place in a similar event in the 2019 edition of Khelo India held in Assam. In 2018, Rajitha joined Tenvic Sports Academy in Nellore. Later, she trained under coach Mike Russell at SAA Centre of Excellence in Guntur.