bengaluru she may have been edgy going into the national track cycling championships in hyderabad recently but once keerthi rangaswamy c got there she hunkered down to make her final appearance as a junior a memorable oneone of the promising track cyclists to emerge from karnataka in recent years the 18yearold blew away the field in the mass start making it a starttofinish affairwith her nerves settled after the stunning victory and after five days of sweat and toil the teenager emerged as the star performer for karnataka with two gold one silver and two bronze medals nearly onethird of the states haulthis was my last year as a junior and i just wanted to give it my all keerthi told toi on monday a few days after the national campers from delhi were sent back to their hometowns due to the grim covid19 scenario the youngster has been part of the camp for almost three yearswith participation in the number of individual events restricted to two the teenager missed a golden double losing the yellow metal by a whisker in the second and her pet event the individual pursuithaving signed off with five medals from the junior ranks keerthi knows it will be a tough road ahead as she has to rub shoulders with the seasoned seniors but the bengalurean is ready for the grind i know it will be tough initially but im willing to put in the extra workload to be the best in the coming years keerthi a first year bcom student of seshadripuram evening degree college saidshe is a dedicated student and never misses a workout seconded her father chikka rangaswamy r physical education director at the seshadripuram institute of commerce and managementi am 10 seconds off the senior national record in my favourite event pursuit and my shortterm goal is to get there or closer to that in the next one year said keerthi who has donned india colours in two international events alreadya budding paddler in her early years having even represented karnataka twice at the subjunior nationals keerthi was keen on pursuing a sport that was physically more demanding she took to track cycling like duck to water her determination to excel and the desire to put in the hard yards paid handsome dividendsafter winning her first medal in the state championship within a year of embracing the sport in 2016 there has been no looking back for keerthi as a recognition for her sporting excellence her college management even waived her tuition fees for the entire threeyear coursetrue to her name keerthi which means glory her longterm goal is to bring laurels to the country