Compete more in global events, says Anju

Legendary long jumper Anju Bobby Goerge says that the Indian athletes will continue to languish at the global stage until they aspire to compete regularly at top level international events.

Anju, the only Indian athlete to have won a medal in the World Championships with a long jump bronze in 2003, said that most of the Indian athletes pay emphasis on training rather than going out and competing at the international events.

She also feels that the top Indian athletes should now have managers of their own and embrace professionalism just like the Americans and the Europeans have been doing.

"Infrastructure is much better now than in our time, but the main thing is that we are stuck at where we are because our athletes are still believing only in training, we are not going out for international competitions," Anju told PTI in an interview.

"Actually, we are doing only the training part which is the 50 per cent part. But peaking in competitions and peaking in high level competitions through Grand Prix and Diamond League events is not happening in India," she said.

Explaining further how an Indian athlete should go about if he or she wants success at the global stage, Anju said, "We are still believing that we can train hard in the country and go for World Championships or Olympics. That is not the correct way, that is not going to give you a medal in the Olympics or World Championships.”