FULL NAME: Rachita Mistry (Earlier Rachita Panda)
GENDER: Female
BORN: 4th March, 1974 (Source: AAFI) At Rourkela. 11th October, 1973 (Source: Facebook)
FAMILY: Father (Laxmidhar Panda), Mother (Bilasini Panda), Husband (Homiyar Mistry), Daughter (Karen), Son (Karl)
ORIGINAL HOME ADDRESS: Lcr 568, Chhend Colony, Rourkela, Odisha, India.
PRESENT ADDRESS: 12, Lady Sakerbai Block, Gilder Lane, Mumbai Central, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
ACADEMIC EDUCATION: Arts Graduate from Indira Gandhi Womens College, Cuttack.
PROFESSION: Running a fitness centre since 2003. Earlier served in Indian Railways.
TYPE OF ATHLETE: Sprinter (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay)
HOME CLUB/ACADEMY: SAI Training Centre, Cuttack
RECEIVED COACHING FROM: Subas Chand Dasmohapatra
PERSONAL BEST TIMINGS: 100 metres: 11.26 seconds, achieved at Bangalore on July 5, 2000. 200 metres: 23.10 seconds, achieved at Chennai on July 31, 2000.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS:

NATIONAL:
*     Held the 100m national record of 11.38 seconds, which she set at the National Circuit Athletic Meet in Trivandrum on August 12, 2000 for 13 years before it was bettered by Merlin K Joseph in 2013.
*     Set her personal best time of 11.26 seconds for 100 metres in Bangalore on July 5, 2000.
*     Set the 200m National record on July 31, 2000 at Chennai with a timing of 23.10 seconds before its was broken by Saraswati Saha in August 2002.
*     Won the 100m gold medal with a timing of 11.48s in the Inter-State Athletics Meet at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on July 30, 2000.
*     Won 100m gold medal in the Open National Athletics Championship, 1998.
*     Won 100m gold medal in the National Games, 1997.

INTERNATIONAL:
*     Represented Asia in Athletics World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa, ?.
*     Represented India in the 4x100m relay at 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, where the Indian quartet with V Jayalakshmi, Vinita Tripathi and Saraswat Saha as other three members finished last in the first round hits, clocking 45.20 seconds on 29 September, 2000.
*     Won the 100m bronze medal in the Asian Athletics Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2000.
*     Represented India in 4x100m relay together with P T Usha, E B Shyla, and Saraswati Saha at the 1998 Asian Championships where her team won the gold medal on way to setting the current national record of 44.43 seconds.
*     Won 100m bronze medal in the Asian Games, Bangkok, Thailand, 1998.
*     She was part of the Indian 4x100m women relay team that won the Gold medal with New Meet Record at the 4th Asian Junior Athletics Championship, held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi from 2-5 December 1992.

AWARDS/HONOURS:
*     She was conferred with the Biju Patnaik Sports Award for life-time achievement for the year 2010 by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on August 29, 2014. The award carried a cheque of Rs 1.5 lakh.
*     In 1998 she was conferred the Arjuna Award for her contribution to the Indian athletics.
*     Received Shiv Chhatrapati Award from Maharashtra State Government in 1998.
*     Received the Ekalabya Award, instituted by IMFA, in 1993.

OTHER NOTABLE DATA:
*     Helping underpriveleged kids since 2010. For that she took a 40-day training with underprivileged children at sprint superstar Usain Bolt Club in Jamaica.
*     In 2017, Odia sprinter Dutee Chand threatened to sue Rachita after the letter allegedly called her transgender.
*     Retired from competitive athletics after 2002 Busan Asian Games.
*     Gave birth to her son in 2006.
*     Met her idol and US sprint star Marion Jones during 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
*     Became a mother, delivering a baby girl in 1996.
*     Her daughter Karen is now settled in Australia as a doctor in physiotherapy. Now working Queensland Hospital.
*     Married fellow athlete Homiyar Mistry in 1995.
*     Joined SAI Hostel at the age of 10.

PROFILE FIRST UPLOADED: 17 April 2014
PROFILE LAST UPDATED: 22 April 2024