Mangalore, May 21: Former international sprinter Anand Shetty, who met with a road accident on Sunday, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Mangalore. He was 52.
Shetty, who hailed from Mani in Dakshina Kannada district, started his career as a kabaddi player before turning into a notable sprinter. He met with an accident two days ago when the car he was travelling in with his wife and daughter was hit by a bus near Kotekar, on the outskirts of city.
The body of Anand Shetty was brought to Mangala Stadium on Tuesday evening. The former sprinter had also been the brand ambassador for the Nitte Celebration Run 2013 that was held in Mangalore in February, along with another athlete Vandana Shanbaug.
Expressing her shock at his demise, Vandana Shanbaug said that she could not get over the fact that her fellow athlete was no more. The duo had competed alongside each other at the Asian Games that were held in Seoul in 1986.
Another former international sportsman, Sunil Kumar Shetty, a close acquaintance of Shetty's, said that his demise was very unfortunate, and was a great loss to the district as well as the state and the country.
After showing his mettle in the junior category, Shetty went on to win a 'sprint double' at the senior level in the Open Nationals at Delhi in 1982 and repeated his act again next year at Jamshedpur by winning the gold medals in 100 and 200m runs.
In total, he had won nine senior national titles in sprint events and several gold medals during his career. Representing Dakshina Kannada district in the state championships, Anand Shetty was the gold medalist in 100 and 200m runs for eight consecutive years from 1982 to 1989. For his achievements, he was awarded the Rajyothsava Award from the Government of Karnataka in 1991.
At the international level, Shetty made his major appearance in the Asian Games held at Delhi in 1982 along with Adille Sumariwalla. Before his death, he had been working for Infosys, at Mudipu, on the outskirts of Mangalore.
Adille, President of AFI and former colleague of Shetty in Telco, expressed his shock on hearing his friend's untimely demise.
“The Athletics Federation of India would like to convey its profound grief and condolences to Anand Shetty's family,” the organisation said.
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