Writing history, Nethra Kumanan was the first woman from the nation to directly qualify for the Olympics in sailing. The 26-year-old, who was born in Chennai, has qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In 2020, she won a bronze medal in Miami at the Hempel Sailing World Cup Series. According to an official statement, Nethra discovered her love for sailing at a young age in 2010 while attending a summer program hosted by the Tamil Nadu Sailing Association. She balanced her athletic career with academic endeavors to accomplish her Olympic aspirations; she has a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering and is now pursuing an MBA.
Nethra competed in the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games. She had placed 35th in the Tokyo Olympics. Nethra became the first woman from India to win a bronze medal at the Sailing World Cup in January 2020.
Age: 26
Sports/Discipline: Women Sailing
First Olympic Games: Tokyo Olympics, 2020
Major Achievements:
Tokyo Olympics (2020) – 35th position
World ILCA6 Championship (2024) – 41st position
World ILCA6 Championship (2023) – 70th position
Last Chance Regatta – 5th position
Asian Sailing Championship (2023) – 7th position
Asian Games (2022) – 4th position
Asian Sailing Championship (2022) – Silver Medal
Europa Cup Hungary (2021) – Bronze Medal
Asian Games (2018) – 4th position
Paris Olympics Qualification:
At the Last Chance Regatta, an Olympic sailing qualification conducted in France earlier this year in April, Nethra secured her quota for the 2024 Summer Olympics under the auspices of the Emerging Nations Program. With this, India’s second sailing quota for the Paris Olympics was earned by the Tokyo Olympian. According to Olympics.com, the Last Chance Regatta served as the last sailing qualifying event for the next Olympics.
Nethra recently competed in the Last Chance Regatta, an Olympic sailing qualification that took place in April of this year in France. The Indian sailor participated in the women’s dinghy competition (ILCA 6) and managed to earn 67 net points, placing her in fifth place overall. As the best performer among sailors from the Emerging Nations Program (ENP) who did not get the Olympic quota, she was awarded the quota.
Thursday, August 1, sailing: Men’s and Women’s Dinghy Race 1-1
