Jyothi Surekha Vennam

Jyothi Surekha Vennam (born 3 July 1996) is an Indian archer.

Early life and education Surekha was born in Challapalli in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh to Vennam Surendra Kumar and Sri Durga.

She started swimming at the age of 3. In 2001, she swam 5 km across the Krishna River in three hours, 20 minutes and six seconds and became the youngest to enter the Limca Book of Records. Jyothi completed her schooling from Nalanda Vidya Niketan, Vijayawada. She did her B.Tech. and MBA at Koneru Lakshmaiah University, a deemed university.

Career Surekha started practicing archery from the age of 11, participating in various tournaments at the junior level. In 2013, She won two bronze medals at the 2013 World Archery Youth Championships held at Wuxi, China. She had competed in five Asian Archery Championships winning four gold, four silver and two bronze medals. She have also competed in multiple Archery World Cups winning five gold, four silver and seven bronze medals. In 2023, Jyoti won three gold medals in the 2022 Asian Games becoming the first Indian to win multiple gold medals in archery.

Awards and accolades Pratibha Puraskar by Government of Andhra Pradesh (2001) ESPN India's Female Athlete of the Year.

In 2017, then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu awarded her a cash prize of INR 1 crore (10 million) along with a housing site of 500 sq. yards in Vijayawada or Amaravati.