Aishwarya Kailash Mishra (Athlete)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Aishwarya Kailash Mishra

• Aishwarya Kailash Mishra is an Indian athlete, who primarily participates in 400m race events. In 2023, she was part of the women’s 4 × 400 m relay Indian team that secured a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games.

• In 2011, she began her athletic journey by competing in and winning a 5 Km marathon organized by St. Mary’s School in Dahisar, Mumbai, where she received Rs 1100 as a prize.

• Her father, Kailash Mishra, originally belonged to Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh. In 1985, he came to Mumbai. Aishwarya, along with her family, lives in a 10×10 room in a chawl in Dahisar, Mumbai. ^[4]The Times of India

• She has actively taken part in various marathons and race events during her time at school and college.

• In an interview, her father, Kailash Mishra, disclosed that when Aishwarya expressed her passion for athletics, he completely supported her as he also had an athletic background. He also explained how he managed to pay for Aishwarya’s training expenses and education. He said,
  

  I was a district-level Kabaddi player and pushed Aishwarya into athletics when she showed an interest in sport. Over the years we have sold off a small piece of land back in UP. I sold my room in Mira Road, mortgaged my wife’s mangalsutra, and took loans from friends to make sure Aishwarya’s training or studies of my other two kids didn’t suffer. She has made India and Maharashtra proud. I am happy about it.” ^[5]The Times of India

• She began her professional training at the SAI Centre in Kandivali under the guidance of her personal coach Sumit Singh.

• Aishwarya has participated in marathons, 200m, 400m, and 800m events and later, she decided to stick with 400m only. In an interview, while talking about this, she said,
  

  I actually started by running long distances. I used to especially run in competitions which had cash rewards. Simple funda was “itna bhagoge, toh itne paise milenge.” My 11th-12th class was the first time I competed in an inter-university competition, that too in a 10km race. That didn’t really work out, so then I got a chance to train on synthetic track in SAI Mumbai. I was still training for middle distance for almost a year and especially focussed on 800m. One day my coach asked me to run a 400m. I ran and found it easy, considering it was just half of my usual distance (laughs). I completed that trial in 56 seconds. Then I started training for 400m and was hovering between 56-58 seconds for some time. Then after rigorous training, I came down to 54, and then in University games I came down to 52 seconds which then got me into national camp. So basically I went pro after 12th class.”

• In September 2021, she competed in the Maharashtra State Championships in Nashik.

• In March 2022, she achieved a timing of 2:06.44 seconds in the 800m event in Patiala.

• In April 2022, she emerged as a winner in three 200m events at the National Federation Cup in Thenhipalam.

• In 2022, she clocked an impressive time of 52.62 seconds in the women’s 400m event at the Indian National Games.

• In September 2023, she recorded a time of 47.90 seconds in the 4 × 400m relay event in Chandigarh.

• Her standout performance in the 4 × 400m mixed relay event occurred at the Supachalasai National Stadium in Bangkok in July 2023.

• Her team achieved a personal best with a time of 3:30.41 seconds at the Mahinda Rajapaksha Stadium in Diyagama, Sri Lanka.

• On 29 September 2023, Aishwarya was selected as a reserve athlete for the Indian athletics team at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

• She was part of the Indian women’s 4 × 400m relay team, which included Vithya Ramraj, Subha Venkatesan, and Prachi Choudhary, and the team won the silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games.

• She is an avid animal lover and is the owner of a pet dog named Bruno.