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Technical naivete apart, there’s the deafness to overcome if the 15-year-old has to make it big in athletics. Not as a physical disability, more as a psychological deterrent.
Winning the gold in the long-jump event at the athletics meet for deaf held at the University Stadium earlier, Iyyammal gave a thumbs-up to indicate her absolute dominance of the field, where she stood out with her quick paces on the run-way, her accurate take-off at the chalk-line and a fine loop in the air to land in the range of 4.5 metres - not bad for an untrained jumper, who takes sign-language instructions from a PE drill teacher.
Hailing from Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu _ a student of Florence HS for the Deaf in neighbouring Tirunelveli, Iyyammal looks a rawboned teenager, with her lanky legs and slight built. But when she clutches the gold-coloured cross hanging from her neck, and sets off on the track, the giant-paces defy the bony mass.
Her south-eastern native-land is a belt known to produce jumpers, and blessed with the natural speed, this average student has opted to channelise her energies into sprint and jumps. She’s a regular on the podium at most deaf-meets, though competing in open events will be her real test.
“More than anything else, she’s very interested in sports, and has realized that winning at races or in the sand-pit improves her own confidence. She notices she’s treated as special when she wins. That alone pushes her to put in more hours on the ground,” Iyyammal’s teacher Vijjy says. Patience in coaching, and urgency in diet seem to be the two desperate needs if this talent is to be pushed ahead. Or else, yet another talent will fade away soundlessly. Not because the girl is deaf, but because the world remained blind.
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