Jakarta: It was the realisation of a dream for V Neena and her husband-cum-coach Pinto Mathew as the former won a silver medal in women’s long jump at the Asian Games here on Monday.
Neena, who has been training under Pinto for the past two months in Thiruvananthapuram, landed the sliver with a jump of 6.51m at Geloro Bung Karno stadium.
Pinto, himself an international hurdler, was there in the stands to cheer his wife on. “To be frank I was confident of Neena clearing 6.60m, but wasn’t sure of the medal as the field was really tough. It can be gauged from the fact one centimetre separated the second and fourth places,” Pinto told Onmanorama.
Neena, who hails from Meppayur in Kozhikode district, and Pinto, a native of Kadanad near Pala, got married last year.
Pinto hopes that the medal will lead to a turnaround in the couple’s career. “She’s been sidelined despite being a silver medallist at the last Asian Championships. We’ve been employed as senior ticket collectors at Rajkot with Western Railways and have been trying for a transfer to Thiruvananthapuram,” said Pinto.
One hopes the medal motivates Neena, who has a personal best of 6.66m, to achieve more in the future events.
