When the baton reached Manu Thekkinalil Saji, India was trailing in third place. Inside the roaring stadium in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, the 24-year-old did what has defined much of his journey: He held his nerve and ran without flinching. His blistering leg helped India to silver in the mixed 4x400m relay at the 2026 Asian Games. The team clocked 3:14.46 to finish just behind Bahrain, and Manu shared the podium with MR Poovamma, Vishal TK and Vithya Ramraj. A few days later, he added a bronze in the men’s 4x400m relay. Two medals at his first Asian Games. Yet his story did not start on an international track.Manu comes from Karinkanikunnu, a small hamlet near Muttil in Wayanad. It is a misty farming district, far from elite sports facilities and synthetic running tracks. No federation spotted him early. No academy groomed him. He was a BTech student at Vidya Academy of Science and Technology in Thrissur, and he started running for one reason: To get into the Army.In Wayanad, as in much of rural Kerala, an Army job means stability. For a lower middle-class family, it promises a regular income and long-term security. Athletics was simply Manu’s way to clear the physical test.“My initial aim was to join the Army. I started training for Army recruitment. Later, with my performance in sprinting, I changed my focus to sprinting,” he said. The man who changed that focus was Rajmohan M K, an athletics coach at SAI, Thiruvananthapuram. Others saw a young man training for a job. Rajmohan saw a promising quarter-miler.No sponsors waited in the paddy fields of Wayanad. For nearly two years, Manu juggled engineering exams, hostel fees and daily training. Running was expensive. Spikes, nutrition, travel and meet entries all cost money. Every national camp meant another adjustment for his farming family.His parents never said no, even when athletics looked like a detour from a dependable job. He trained on basic tracks and often travelled to Thiruvananthapuram for better sessions. His BTech degree stayed in reserve, a safety net in case running led nowhere.His path mirrors that of many Indian track and field athletes. Javelin thrower DP Manu once trained with a bamboo spear because his school had no proper javelin. His mother sold her jewellery to buy him shoes. Manu Saji’s rise, too, was built on sacrifice and limited resources.The breakthrough came in 2022, when he won gold in the mixed relay at the Asian U20 Championships. In 2025, he helped the Indian men’s 4x400m team win silver at the Asian Championships in Gumi. The boy who first ran for a job was now running to keep India on the podium.“I am so proud to represent India. It is my first Asian Games, and I did well. My only thought is I have to give the baton first,” he said. After his medal-winning run in Nagoya, he called his parents back in Wayanad. They broke down in tears.Back home, Muttil grama panchayat gave him a grand welcome. An autorickshaw procession set off from Edappetti, chenda melam filled the streets, and hundreds gathered at the bus stand. The panchayat honoured him with gold coins and a cash prize. The village that once watched him train for Army physical tests now celebrated an Asian Games medallist.Manu still describes his job simply: Hand over the baton in the best possible position.
Disclaimer: Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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