Get. Set. Gone — Vandana Rao

In 1984, four Indian track-and-field athletes delivered what was then the best-ever performance by Indian women at the Los Angeles Olympics. The standout athlete, PT Usha, missed the bronze medal in the 400-meter hurdles by just one hundredth of a second. Usha and her fellow sprinters Shiny Wilson (née Abraham), M D Valsamma, and Vandana Rao, made history by qualifying for the finals of the 4x400 meters relay. Although they finished last, they set a new Asian record and were celebrated as the "Golden Girls" of Indian athletics.

Among the four, Usha continued to achieve great success and became a household name. Shiny Wilson and M D Valsamma shone in the Asian circuit but gradually faded from public memory. Vandana Rao’s athletic career, however, came to an abrupt end after the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

This is her story.

Born into ...