Indian athletics is on a climb. The past two years have seen track and field medals for the country in Olympic and World Championships. The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham yielded eight medals without the presence of Neeraj Chopra. Indian juniors have also made their mark on the world stage with 10 medals in the past six years in the U-20 Athletics World Championships.
It's a far cry from where the country was just a few years ago. While there is still a long way to go before the country can call itself a sporting nation when it comes to athletics, India is on its way up. Chopra may perhaps be the only true world-class athlete for India in track and field, but in M Sreeshankar, Eldhose Paul, Abdulla Aboobacker N, the exceptional Avinash Sable and others there is potential.
Speaking to DH, Anju Bobby George — a pathbreaker, India's first World Championship medallist and Senior Vice President of the Athletics Federation of India — shed light on athletics' journey over the decades and plans for the future.
How much has the scenario changed in athletics from when you started to now?
When I started we were just blindly chasing our dreams. Infrastructure, information, support and awareness among people about sport were all very less. It was a struggle. We were wasting our energies on all other things around the sport, finding solutions for everything ourselves. But I still feel lucky that I could get a World Championships medal and gold in World Athletics Final. I was able to set a trend there though I struggled. Now it's a different scenario. Athletes are getting support. People are celebrating victories and watching competitions live, enjoying and feeling proud.
What is the role of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and the government in this change?
AFI, back in the day, was not powerful among the world bodies. Now we have representation. We have a voice. That is a difference in AFI. Ministry in those days, I never got a chance to meet the Sports Minister after winning a medal. He was not ready to meet us. Now, the Sports Ministry is at the forefront and planning things for athletes. The awareness, support and involvement are different now.
The recent performances in the Commonwealth Games were good. How did that come about?
That is the result of focused planning by the AFI. We selected these events as priority events and focused on them to produce senior and junior athletes in these events. We have talent in these events. We are trying to build an ecosystem for them. AFI has made long-term plans here and this is the result and execution of those plans.
Mentoring has been key here. During the Covid-19 lockdown, we educated our athletes and coaches. Lots of programmes happened at the time. We used that time. A lot of effort has been made by the SAI (Sports Authority of India) and NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) as well. There has been a massive change in sporting awareness among the public and athletes. A big change in execution from SAI and ministry also. The effort is now collective.
What are these focused events and why was the decision made to focus on them?
We are focusing, for both juniors and seniors, on 400m, long jump, triple jump, javelin, discus and walking. These long jump, triple jump, high jump, javelin, discus — all these are technical events and we are good at them. But we need to polish it. We also have some exceptional talents like Avinash Sable in long-distance events.
Why are we good at these events? Maybe it is the genetics, maybe it is cultural because we have a legacy in these events. We learn and execute things very fast. We have jumping talent also. Look at the quantity — jumpers, javelin, triple jump we have juniors and seniors who are equally good. We got a junior World Championships medal in triple jump. We got a medal in CWG also. The strength in depth is good.
What is the next phase now?
Now we have to aim for World Championships and Olympics. Commonwealth Games are one tier below them. We need to put a mark there. It's not easy but we are preparing our athletes for that. Yes, we got an Olympic gold, but that is one. We need a bunch of similar athletes. That is the target.
What are the immediate plans for the future?
The next stage is to take these athletes to the world stage. That is the focus. That means competition exposure and bringing good foreign coaches. We are taking care of these athletes at the National camps the whole year.
How would you look at the 75-year independent India's journey in athletics?
This is AFI's 75th year also. We have good reasons to celebrate this year. We have Olympic, World Championships and Commonwealth Games medals. Seniors and juniors are doing well in big championships. Till a few years ago, we celebrated Asian medals a lot. We didn't think beyond it. Most of the athletes didn't believe they had it in them to go beyond that. But now, athletes are looking at the Olympics and World Championships. They believe they can and they have the support. That mentality is the change. The behaviour of athletes is the change. Now we see athletes, whether they are 5th or 6th, trying and fighting for a medal. There is a fearless attitude. Athletics is not easy, it's very hard. But we are ready to take on the challenge.