Kalayathumkuzhi Mathews Beenamol, popularly known as K M Beenamol, was born on August 15, 1975, in the village of Kombidinjal, in Kerala. She became the third Indian to reach an Olympics semi-final since P.T. Usha. Beenamol was largely unknown, until her first exhilarating performance at the Sydney Olympics 2000. Her Personal Best was 400 - 51.21 in 2000.

She won the gold medal in women`s 800m along with the 4x400m women`s event at Busan, in the Asian Games (2002). Along with her athlete brother K. M. Binu, Beenamol also made history by becoming the first Indian siblings to win medals in a major international competition. Binu won a surprise silver medal in men`s 800m race.

She received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India`s highest sporting honour, in the year 2002-2003, as a joint winner of along with Anjali Ved Pathak Bhagwat. In 2004, she was awarded the Padma Shri.

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