Meet Srabani Nanda: a 35-year-old sprinter who refuses to slow down

In a sport where a single decade can exhaust the human body, currently 35-year-old sprinter Srabani Nanda is redefining the rules of athletic longevity.

Fresh from anchoring the Indian women’s 4x100m relay team to a spectacular gold medal finish at the Asian Relay Championships in China, Nanda’s career has been stretching since her 24th year. The Indian quartet – of Nanda, SS Sneha, Sudeshna Shivankar and Tamanna – clocked a personal best of 43.85 seconds to claim the top spot, making them fierce medal contenders for the upcoming Asian Games in Japan.

But for Nanda, real victory isn’t just measured in gold or split seconds; it is measured in the purity of its path.

At a time when Indian athletics is often forced to contend with the shadow of doping scandals, Nanda stands out as a beacon of clean sport. In an interview with the Press Trust of India, the veteran athlete revealed that keeping her body free of any banned substances is her ultimate source of strength.

“I will definitely say that it is very important to stay clean and that gives a lot of confidence. And you can focus on your competition,” Nanda told PTI.

“We have to change the mindset from ‘we can’t do without drugs’ to ‘we can do without drugs’. We have to make sure that we keep our bodies healthy and we shouldn’t mess with our bodies. And naturally, illegal drugs would even make your body worse in the long run.”

VIDEO | Indian sprinter Srabani Nanda, fresh from winning gold at the Asian Athletics Championships in China, has credited her longevity in the sport to an unquenchable hunger for success, discipline and an unwavering determination to compete cleanly.

He spent more than two decades pic.twitter.com/qq9XuALzDq— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 24, 2026

Nanda hails from Tikabali in Odisha’s Kandhamal district and her journey began in 2002 when she joined the Government Sports Hostel. The daughter of a local collector and school principal, her talent quickly propelled her to the international stage. In 2007, she represented India at the World Youth Championship in Ostrava.

She has quietly built an amazing resume over nearly two and a half decades. She won bronze at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, bronze at the 2015 Asian Individual 200m Championships and standard relay medals including a silver in 2025. She even reached the pinnacle of the sport at the 2016 Rio Olympics when she competed in the 200m sprint.

20 YEARS OF THE KIND

However, staying at the top for more than 20 years takes a punishing physical toll. Nanda admits that the temptation to leave has knocked on her door more than once.

“I’ve thought about it so many times. It’s so hard in training. Sometimes I throw up during training, but I still have to get up and do another rep,” she said.

“I’m so tired, so frustrated when I don’t reach the goal sometimes… but I have to keep myself and think about the days ahead.

To maintain her world-class speed, Nanda, who is currently employed by the Odisha Hydro Power Corporation, has traveled the world to find inspiration. She trained in South Africa and Australia and moved to Jamaica during the height of the 2020 pandemic. There she trained and raced alongside world sprinting legends Elaine Thompson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – an experience where she learned how to handle the mental aspect of elite competition.

As she competes in the 100m and 200m events at the ongoing Senior National Interstate Championships – which serve as key selection trials – her focus remains on the horizon. Despite a huge amount of continental hardware, she had missed out on an Asian Games medal in two previous attempts.

With the momentum of fresh Asian Gold behind her, Nanda is ready to rewrite the final script.

“For this season, the main goal is the Asian Games and I hope for the best.” (With PTI inputs)

– The end

Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

June 25, 2026 10:37 AM IST