SJIOBA Sportsman of the year 2011

Karthic Harish Ragupathy joined SJI from St. Anthony's Primary School. At St Anhotny's he was a basketball player and was looking towards hockey as a CCA at SJI.

However, with a previous running record of 1.6km in 6.18m, he was better suited for Track and Field and so began his journey of running.

During that journey, his achievements have been nothing short of remarkable. At Sec 2 he was crowned Champion at the National Inter-School Cross Country Championships. In that year he also won the 3rd placing for the 1500m at the National Inter-School Track & Field Championships.

At Sec 3, competing against the bigger boys in 'B'Division, he managed a very respectful 3rd position at the Cross Country Championships and won Gold at the 3000m Track event.

This year despite the tremendous pressure on him as a favourite, he preserved and delivered. He was crowned Champion for the second time at the National Cross Country Championships and retained the gold for the 3000m event.

This achievement earned him a place in the team that represented Singapore in the inaugural Asian Schools Cross Country Championship in Mongolia. Competing against Asian giants such as China, Iran, Mongolia, and in the harsh terrain at 1368m above sea level, he achieved a very commendable 13th position, helping the Singapore team to achieve an Overall 3rd position.

All these did not come easy, behind these accolades there is sheer hard work, discipline and plenty of sacrifice.

He is now an accomplished athlete, very driven and highly motivated. Despite all these successes, he still remains down to earth never forgetting all those who had helped him achieve so much.

He credits his success to his mother, Coach Elangovan, and good senior role models such as Madhi, Suman, and Bryan with whom he trained when he was a junior.

Karthic received SJIOBA Sportsman of the Year 2011 trophy from Mr Gerard Ee (class of 1965)