‘To have six finalists at the Worlds is a massive achievement’
It has taken 19 years for an Indian after Anju Bobby George to win a World Championships medal. Neeraj Chopra’s was tipped to achieve the breakthrough and he delivered with a silver in Eugene, going one step ahead of Anju who won bronze in long jump in the 2003 edition in Paris.
It was also India’s best ever performance with six athletes for the first time reaching the finals of their respective events.
Besides Chopra, Rohit Yadav, Annu Rani, Murali Sreeshankar, Avinash Sable, Eldhose Paul came through the qualification.
On Sunday morning, watching the proceedings at her home in Bengaluru, Anju was nervous as Chopra struggled with his rhythm in the beginning. “This was one medal we were sure about but there is nothing sure at the world stage until you get it. In the first few throws, I was nervous but luckily, he came back and won the medal. I am very happy he is joining me as world championship medallist. Till last year people used to ask me what we are getting from athletics from the world stage. Now they have the answer,” she said.
Anju said with Chopra showing the way, Indians are motivated to do well at the world stage but it was also about planning that is producing results.
“To have six finalists is a big achievement and it was because of the federation’s long-term planning. Athletics Federation of India (AFI) picked a few priority events—jumps, throws, 400m, walk and we have given them all support brining in coaches and giving them international exposure. The government is giving full support. Now athletes don’t need to worry about other things and can only focus on training. When I had gone to Paris in 2003, we had to take care of so many other things,” said Anju.
She said India needs to invest in sports science and research. “We need to do more research on elite sports. Our body is different and we need to have our own system. We cannot blindly adopt what US and the Europeans are doing. We are good in technical events but every year there are changes in technique. Right now, we are blindly adopting what others are doing. We need to change that and we are working towards that. If we can do that, we can prepare our athletes well for 2028 Olympics.
“Athletics is a mother of all sports and the entire world is into athletics. It is very tough, you need that much precision, calmness and right execution to achieve success. Chopra is able to manage all that,” she said.
“He is young and he is enjoying himself in the middle. With him people are enjoying the beauty and the technicality of the flight of the javelin He is a trend-setter. He is calm under pressure and at the same time he is very aggressive. And most important is that even after winning an Olympic medal and coming through tough challenges with so many programmes, felicitation and endorsement events he has to attend, he is able to manage all that and focus on his training,” Anju said.