Anju Bobby George can now chuckle about her experiences from two decades ago, but her playful disposition barely conceals the fact that she once felt helpless and alone when ‘taking on the world’ as a rare athlete from India. The vice-president of the Athletics Federation of India comfortably dives into those emotions, and offers considerable wisdom on what the Indian contingent at the Paris Olympics could well be going through in a chat with DH’s Roshan Thyagarajan. Excerpts:
What goes through an athlete’s mind in the lead-up to the Olympics?
The thing about events such as the Olympics or the World Championships is that you have to keep your mind and your attitude positive in the lead-up to the event. You’re always thinking about ways in which you can win a medal. Listen to any athlete who is in Paris right now, and they will all be speaking of winning medals. They will say, ‘I am going for it’. It’s not to remain in that space, but that’s all we can control—our mind. That is the secret to a good performance: always being positive. You know that the competition is going to be very high, and most athletes there are equals, so you might end up missing a medal by a few centimetres, but that does not mean you didn’t try. We all push ourselves to the point of exhaustion to make our countries proud. Winning and losing is not about lack of effort at these games, it's about mindset, mentality.
How was your time different?
During our time, it was a one-man show. We didn’t get major support. We didn’t have much Indian representation. We didn’t have people in the international bodies. No one was watching us. Now everything is well planned. The federation is scheduling everything to the ‘T’. Take Neeraj (Chopra), for example; his entire regimen is well thought out and written up. I think 2004 (the Athens Olympics) was a big year for us because even if we didn’t win much, we set the standard, and athletics in India has improved massively since then. At that point, India was not known for athletics. Look at us now; we’re established.
What does Neeraj’s consistent success mean to India?
The fact that he’s leading our contingent itself is motivating for other athletes. You feel like you belong there when someone like him shows in his actions that he actually does belong there. His impact is impossible to put into words. See, when I went to the Games, I didn’t have someone like that by my side. I felt alone there, and it’s tough standing alone in those stadiums. When you have another person alongside you and at the highest level, you feel comfortable enough to push harder.
How did India get here in terms of success in athletics?
For close to 10 years, the AFI has been planning this, and now we’re seeing the fruits of the labour. When I won a medal at the Worlds, it was a spark, but it was not enough to sustain another generation. I was the best in my category for many years, but it didn’t matter because few came after me with the level of dedication, execution, and planning. Now, we are well planned, and we have so many initiatives across the age groups to ensure sustained success. By the time the Olympics come to India (potentially in 2036), we will be a superpower. That much is guaranteed.
How would you describe the feeling of being at the Olympics — those lights, that pressure, those many eyes?
For somebody who has not been there, it will be mere words; you cannot describe that feeling with words. I missed the 2000 Olympics because of an injury and went to the 2004 Olympics after some health concerns. I still finished well, but lots of athletes from Russia were all doping, and they were winning all these medals. They were all cheating. I digress. So, the World Championships are similar to the Olympics in terms of the quality of athletes, but the spirit of the Olympics is unmatchable.
Speaking of doping, what is the AFI doing to remedy the ever-growing problem?
I realised the world was a very unfair place after all that had happened to me. You know, the Russians, Marion Jones, and all these people were all doping. That’s the real cause of my missing out on a lot of medals. People are still doing that now, but it has become more intense. People are doing gene doping, so you can’t even detect it anymore. If you start genetically doping an athlete at a very young age, you can’t even tell that the markers are off. Basically, they are bio-engineering a person to be a perfect athlete, and we have no means of detecting these things because this is at the level of genes. Before, they would design drugs; now they’re designing humans. We’re trying to stay ahead of these cheats, but it’s only getting harder by the day. The only thing we can do in India is educate the parents and the athletes and tell them that doping might be good for a moment but it doesn't serve the athlete well later on in life, physically or mentally.
How much of winning is about hard work, and how much of it is in the mind?
It’s not at all about hard work because everyone is doing the same level of work, more or less. The mind plays a much bigger role because it's you versus the world. We need that toughness. In my case, I was doing well in every major championship. I was at my best because I was able to plan and execute. A lot of it also comes down to the calibre of the coach and how he sets up the training schedule for you. All of these things should typically happen a year before the Olympics and you start working. You should know exactly what tournaments you're participating in, your training patterns, your recovery, and how to avoid injury. For me, in the lead-up to the big events, I would use the Grand Prix events to study the field. I wasn't so concerned about winning there. This was about studying their approach, their behaviour towards the competition, and how they behave at big events. Our calculations are about how these athletes do, what we need to focus on, and which athletes will be with me in the main bracket. So we don't go all out at every event. You pace yourself.
How come Indian athletes are doing well at the junior level but are not able to transfer these skills to the senior level?
This is not a problem only in India. This is something that the world is going through. The problem is specialisation. That's why the International Federation is insisting that young athletes play a variety of sports before specialising at around the age of 16. I peaked late, so I was able to maintain my quality, but the problem is that a lot of young people peak early and fizzle out. They should find a balance, and we're working on that too. Hopefully, we will see this problem thin out in the years to come.