Manathoor Devasia Valsamma is a retired Indian athlete. She was the second Indian woman to win an individual gold medal at the Asian Games and the first to win it on Indian soil.
Valsamma was born on 21 October 1960 in Ottathai, Kannur district of Kerala. She started her athletics career during her school days. Her first medal was for Kerala in the 100-meter hurdles and pentathlon in the Inter-University Championship at Pune in 1979.
She was enrolled in Southern Railway. She made a great impression at the Inter-State Meet in Bangalore in 1981 by winning five gold medals. That performance catapulted her into the Railway and national teams and in 1982 she became the national champion.
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