It’s time India aimed higher than the Asian Games

Women athletes have a tradition of making India proud at Asian-level competitions. I faintly recall the games that India hosted in New Delhi in 1982. When MD Valsamma won the gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles to set an Asian record time of 58.47 seconds in front of a cheering home crowd at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, she became the second woman athlete to win an Asian gold for India, after Kamaljit Sandhu in 1974. In the next edition in 1986, PT Usha, who won four gold medals, and Shiny Abraham Wilson (a gold and a silver) went on to become household names. As a nine-year-old, little did I know I would go on to represent India in the Asian Games in track and field one day!

By the time it was my turn to stand on the podium and listen to the national anthem at Busan, South Korea, in 2002, track and field events had become more competitive. The challenge was greater because many more countries had begun to send a women’s team for track and field events. The competition for Indians became greater when West Asian countries began inducting athletes with African origins in their teams. Also athletes from countries that were once part of the erstwhile Soviet Union, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, began competing in the Asian Games. With increased competition, our overall standards improved, but the medals tally began to shrink.

Individually, my preparation for the 2002 Busan Asian Games was ideal because in the run-up to the event, I had won a bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England. This meant I was high on confidence going into Busan. It was the first time an Indian won a medal in a long jump event.

Looking at this year’s edition of the Asian Games being held in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang, India’s prospects look good. Our sprinters are in good form and are expected to win at least a couple of medals. Of late, athletics in India appears to be coming of age. Clearly, it has got some impetus with the excitement generated by the junior world title of Hima Das. Generally even the top runners in the country tend to fade away in the home stretch, but the 18-year-old from Assam has a good finishing sprint in her arsenal. This gives her an edge over everybody else. Still, the gap between the junior world level and the elite levels has proved to be the undoing of many junior champions. With proper grooming, I feel Hima can repeat her performance on a bigger stage. We’ll know whether she can cope with pressure at the Asian Games and later at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. In Indonesia, we also have a strong chance in the throws events (discus and javelin), but my worry is that the preparation for the jumps could have been better.

We have been winning medals in the Asian Games for many decades now. It’s time India began to aim higher. Ideally, for a country of our size, population and resources, we should be a force to reckon with at the Olympics. With long-term planning backed by the creation of an infrastructure that inculcates a culture of sports, Indian sportspersons, particularly women athletes, can become world-beaters.

Anju Bobby George is a former Asian Games gold medallist and the only Indian woman athlete to win a medal at the world championships

The views expressed are personal

First Published: Aug 16, 2018 12:09 IST