Meet Kerala's Anju Bobby George, a woman of substance in Indian athletics

Kolkata: Anju Bobby George had been pathbreaker in more ways than one. Much before the strapping Neeraj Chopra showed India that it’s future could lie in the field events with that historic gold in javelin at the Tokyo Olympics in August this year, the lithe long jumper from Kerala made heads turn with India’s first-ever medal in the World Athletics in Paris in 2003 - a bronze and the only one by an Indian till date.

Nearly 18 years down the road, it was again a rare occasion when World Athletics conferred her the ‘Woman of the Year’ award in their annual awards gala earlier this month for grooming talent and encouraging young girls in India to take up sports and fight for gender equality.

“Her efforts in advancing the sport in India as well as inspiring more women to follow in her footsteps make her more than a worthy recipient of this year’s award,” the world governing body of the sport said on twitter.

“The former international long jump star from India is still actively involved in the sport. In 2016, Anju opened a training academy for young girls, which has already helped to produce a world U20 medallist. A constant voice for gender equality, she also mentors schoolgirls for future leadership positions within the sport,” it said.

It had been a hectic few weeks for Anju, who had been criscrossing the country and handling scores of interview requests, but not losing her trademark humility and calm for a moment. ‘‘It’s a humbling experience surely. I would say my recognition caps an extraordinary year for Indian athletics,’’ said the 44-year-old.

Speaking to Gulf News during an exclusive telephonic interview from Bengaluru, Anju felt that her recognition came not only for not only producing a silver medallist in the Under-20 World Championships this year in Shaili Singh from her stable, but for the mission that she and her husband-coach Bobby George set out to achieve with their academy Anju Bobby Sports Foundation in Bengaluru five years back. ‘‘I feel it’s a recognition of how much we are giving out to the society. There is no dearth of talented girl athletes in our country, but what we strive to do is to develop them into well-rounded human beings. In today’s society, education is as important as their skill sets as they would be the eventually brand ambassadors for our country,’’ she said.

The month of August was a memorable one for Indian athletics when on the penultimate day at Tokyo Games, Neeraj hurled the javelin to 87.58 metres to make it a double joy for India - the first-ever Olympic medal for the country and that too a gold. As the whole of India was still basking in glory, the 17-year-old Shaili of Anju’s academy leapt to her personal best of 6.59 metres but had to be content with a silver against Sweden’s European junior champion Maja Askag after being initially placed a provisional first in Under-20 Worlds in Nairobi. Incidentally, Neeraj Chopra became the U20 world champion five years ago.

During an interaction with Neeraj on a TV channel in India, Anju was visibly emotional that someone from India could actually bring home an Olympic medal - and admits that the achievement gives her goosebumps even after four months. ‘‘See, I am happy to have played my part to show the world that we could achieve something at the highest level in athletics. In our discipline, the World Athletics and Olympics may not be much different in terms of quality of competition, but the aura of winning an Olympic medal is something extra. That’s why I had been so emotional about it,’’ she said.

Asked if the achievements of Chopra or a young Shaili Singh may instill the much-needed self belief among Indian athletes, Anju said: ‘‘There has been a change in our sporting culture. Whatever I could achieve was largely on my own but for Neeraj (Chopra), it had been a collective effort - be it from the government, Sports Authority of India (SAI) or his sponors. We have already started planning for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics and the results should improve.’’

Looking into the future, Anju - a senior Vice-President of Athletics Federation of India (AFI) - said that the national body and the ministry has zeroed in on five disciplines where Indian atheletes have been found to be technically superior - walking, 400 metres, long jump, discus throw and of course javelin as medal prospects. ‘‘Despite the Paris Olympics cycle coming back in three years, there is enough time and competitions with the next Worlds, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games next year. The momentum achieved with Neeraj’s gold should not be lost,’’ she signed off.

Factfile

Born: April 19, 1977 (age 44 years), Cheeranchira, India

Spouse: Robert Bobby George (brother of late volleyball icon Jimmy George)

Children: Aaron George, Andrea George

Awards: Padma Shri, Arjuna Award, Women of the Year by World Athletics

Best international performance: Bronze in 2003 Worlds in Paris (6.70 metres)