Rain on the track. A packed stadium. Four runners waiting for a baton to arrive. And one sprinter from Karnataka running the second leg for India.Sneha SS, or Sneha Sathyanarayana Shanuvalli, is the new name for many fans as she, along with her teammates, clinched a bronze medal in the first-ever mixed 4×100 metres relay at the Asian Games 2026.But her journey did not begin at the games; what makes it even more inspiring is that she is a Tax Assistant at Bengaluru North West Commissionerate. And it came just a day after a painful near miss in the women’s relay.Behind a few seconds on a track are years of early mornings, tired legs and quiet doubts that nobody sees. A baton, a dream and a team that trusted each other. Let us meet the woman who held it all together and learn about her journey to the medal at Asian Games.
Who is Sneha SS? The Bengaluru Tax assistant from a farmer’s family who won Bronze at the Asian Games 2026
On Tuesday, September 29, at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, Sneha SS and her teammates, including Gurindervir Singh, Animesh Kujur and Harita Bhadra, finished third in the first-ever mixed 4×100 metres relay at the Games. India took bronze, and the time was a new national record.According to World Athletics, Sneha Sathyanarayana Shanuvalli competes in the 100 metres, the long jump, the 4×100 metres relay and the mixed 4×100 metres relay. She works as a Tax Assistant at the Bengaluru North West Commissionerate, and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs took to their X account to applaud her contributions to the country.The CBIC captioned their post, “Heartiest congratulations to Ms. Sneha S.S., Tax Assistant, Bengaluru North West Commissionerate, for her stellar performance in securing the 🥉 Bronze Medal for India in the Mixed 4×100m Relay at the Asian Games 2026.Her remarkable achievement is a testament to her dedication, discipline and unwavering pursuit of excellence. CBIC takes immense pride in Ms. Sneha S.S. for bringing glory to the nation and honour to the organisation through her outstanding sporting accomplishment.CBIC extends its best wishes to Ms. Sneha S.S. for continued success and many more milestones in her sporting journey.
Sneha comes from a farming background
According to a report by The Bridge, Sneha was born into a family of farmers in Shanuvalli village in Karnataka’s Chikmagalur district. She showed physical strength from a young age. She told the outlet, “My father is an areca nut farmer”, and said she helped him during the harvest season and it was this hard physical work of rural life which marked the starting point of her athletic career.Later in 2023, she got a job with the Income Tax Department as a Multi-Task Staff member (MTS). It gave her a monthly salary, but her expenses around sprinting were quite more than her pocket allowed.She told the outlet that she spent about Rs 700 a week on fruit and about Rs 10,000 a month on supplements. A good pair of spikes costs around Rs 23,000 and lasts roughly six months, and she could not yet afford a physiotherapist. She also described slow travel reimbursements and limits on what government employees can claim.Despite this, her results kept improving and now she along wit her teammates brought laurels to the country by winning bronze in Asian Games.
