Anju Bobby George made history when she won the bronze medal in long jump at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris. Followed which, she also became the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal in a World Championships in Athletics jumping 6.70 m. There was no stopping for her since then. She clinched gold medal at the IAAF World Athletics Final (a competition between best eight athletes in the world based on the world ranking) in 2005, a performance she considers her best. She is one of the most capped athletes who was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2002, Khel Ratna in 2003 and Padma Shri in 2004. She grabbed 5th position with personal best of 6.83 m at the 2004 Athens Olympics .Adding on, in March 2021, Anju won the BBC lifetime achievement award for best athlete in India.
We spoke to her exclusively at a recently held sports awards event in Delhi. Below are the excerpts…
Q. Off lately we can see that, there is a boom in the sports events, sports awards events and the leagues happening in India not only in cricket but in other sports as well, your reaction?
A. Yes, I duly agree with this fact. In fact, this sports event which we are attending right now is basically my 4th edition of being in association with it. I’m participating in this program, and I’ve always been part of such sports-boosting events. I’m really happy that the media, like you people, are supporting young people and they’re celebrating their victory also. So, in that sense, we are here to celebrate our youngsters, and I am also a part of that.
Eventually, we can see that along with cricket, other sports like hockey, football, wrestling, boxing, badminton, tennis, fencing, and athletics in general, and all other sports are getting due respect and consideration in India. In my time, I think it was kind of hard. It is still hard to get your sport’s honor, but in this era of social media, one medal, one post and then a trail of comments and likes makes you popular enough and the respective sport also gets substantial recognition. You just have to work hard in the right direction. That’s it.
Q. Nowadays youngsters are looking up to the sports persons as ideals, they follow them closely. I think they’re picking the right hero and heroines as of now because the boycott Bollywood trend is going on and inherit sports is also going on. Your take?
A. In a sense, it’s really good that kids have someone great to look up to, and they actually are the real role models who come from different backgrounds, mostly underprivileged, are making it so big. Somebody’s father was a farmer, someone’s mother used to wash utensils in the households, etc. So, it’s their accountability and strong will that made their dream come true. If the youth of today are showing them respect and following them in admiration, it is definitely a good sign of their positive mental and physical growth.
Q. Last time before the Commonwealth Games we had a word and you actually predicted the medal tally for India and it manifested somehow, 61 medals we clinched! So what you have to say is this, the new dawn in the era of sports in India?
A. Yeah, definitely the support that we are getting from all the corners of the nation as in federations, ministry, organizations, academies, coaches, logistics, and even families of the sports personas, the kids are motivated and they are putting their best foot forward to get medals in the international arena. So, it’s a collective effort from everyone, and I predicted it rightly so, and I’m really happy about that.
Q. So, now we want your prediction on Asian Games and Paris Olympics as well?
A. Well, for that, I need a little more time to predict.
