Keerthi Rangaswamy of Pune Railway Division Wins 4 Golds, Best Woman Cyclist Award at Track Cycling Nationals
Keerthi Rangaswamy of Central Railway’s Pune division won four gold medals and the Best Woman Cyclist award at the 78th Senior National Track Cycling Championships in Ranchi.
Photo: Sander.v.Ginkel / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pune, 7th November 2026: Keerthi Rangaswamy, a junior clerk in the personnel department of Central Railway’s Pune division, won four gold medals and the Best Woman Cyclist award at the 78th Senior National Track Cycling Championships in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
Her golds came in the 200 m sprint, the team sprint, the 1 km time trial and the keirin, according to details shared by the Pune railway division and carried by Punekar News.
Four events, four golds
Track cycling is raced on a banked oval called a velodrome, and Rangaswamy’s wins came across very different kinds of race:
- 200 m sprint: a flying lap timed over the last 200 metres, followed by head-to-head rounds
- Team sprint: a relay in which each rider leads for one lap
- 1 km time trial: a solo race against the clock from a standing start
- Keirin: a bunch race behind a pacing motorbike that pulls off before a final sprint
Central Railway said she set two national records at the meet, clocking 1 minute 13.807 seconds in the 1 km individual time trial and 1 minute 09.966 seconds in the team sprint. GKToday reported that on October 30, the opening day, the Indian Railways rider won the elite women’s 1 km individual time trial with a national record.
About the championships
The 78th Senior, 55th Junior and 41st Sub-Junior National Track Cycling Championships were held at the Khelgaon velodrome in Ranchi from October 30 to November 4, 2026. More than 600 cyclists were expected to take part, UNI reported ahead of the event.
A long-awaited title
Rangaswamy described the Best Woman Cyclist award as a dream that had slipped away from her several times before in her career, according to the railway division.
She first made her mark as a junior rider from Karnataka. At the 2021 nationals in Hyderabad she won the junior women’s 6 km race and the 5 km scratch race. Since then she has moved into the sprint events and has raced for India at the Asian Track Championships, where she was part of the women’s team sprint trio that set a national record in March 2026.
What it means for Pune
Indian Railways often recruits athletes into clerical posts so they can train and compete. Rangaswamy’s medals put the Pune division on the national podium.
Pune has its own velodrome at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, shown in the photo above, and the city will host the Pune Grand Tour 2027 road cycling race in January. For more city sport and events, follow our Pune events this weekend page.
We will update this story if the Cycling Federation of India publishes official results.
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Frequently asked questions
Who is Keerthi Rangaswamy?
She is a track cyclist who works as a junior clerk in Central Railway’s Pune division and races for Indian Railways.
What did Keerthi Rangaswamy win at the 2026 nationals?
Four gold medals, in the 200 m sprint, team sprint, 1 km time trial and keirin, plus the Best Woman Cyclist award.
Where were the 78th Senior National Track Cycling Championships held?
At the Khelgaon velodrome in Ranchi, Jharkhand, from October 30 to November 4, 2026.
