triathlon champ pragnya mohan who had become the south asian champion at the asia triathlon cup and south asian championships in 2019 successfully defended her title at the recently concluded event held in nepal she completed the entire race 750 metres swimming in a lake 20 km cycling and a 5 km run in 10622 hours talking to us from nepal pragnya shares becoming the south asian champion again is a great feeling in 2020 and 2021 the event could not be held due to the covid19 related restrictions and this was my first big triathlon event in twoandahalf years also i had suffered a major ankle injury in november last year and to be able to win this championship under the circumstances means a lot to me the conditions werent that easy because it was raining during the cycling event so i am feeling very happy she adds the journey over the years has not been easy because i had to stay away from the family for long durations for training abroad and i was all alone in australia for 18 months during the pandemic i have had injuries and major accidents too and there have been moments when people have passed comments about the kind of bodyhugging outfits triathletes need to wear and why a girl should take up a sport like this but these things dont bother me and i am firmly focused on making india proud in the future too excerpts from a chati want to become the first indian triathlete to qualify for the olympics this gold medal is the perfect start for me for the racing season and being a qualification race for the upcoming asian games and the commonwealth games it was a crucial event after this performance i am confident about getting selected in the indian team for both these upcoming mega events the british high commission had recently picked me as a role model sportsperson for the upcoming commonwealth games it will be held in england and posted a video on social media the fact that i am one of the seven elite indian athletes to be chosen for this was a huge honour because the list includes such prominent names like neeraj chopra pv sindhu and pullela gopichand i aim to participate in 10 international races this year which are also olympic qualification events i want to become the first indian triathlete to qualify for the olympicsi should be at my peak at the 2024 olympics for triathletes 28 to 32 is the age bracket when they are at the top of their game i am 27 right now and so i will be 30 during the 2024 olympics so i hope to be at my peak by then and if i qualify i am confident about doing well if i manage to qualify for the olympics it will be a huge moment for triathlon in our country because it will create more awareness about the sport we have a