New Delhi: Asian Games 2023 was a fruitful event for the Indian contingent as they crossed their aim of 100 medals in various disciplines and also achieved a top-five finish in the medal tally.
One of the contributors to India's gold rush was Annu Rani who became the first Indian woman to win the Asian Games gold in Javelin throw. The athlete excelled in the event but she suffered a lot of failures before coming into the games. Reflecting on her earlier failures, Annu Rani stated that she had decided to quit the sport before the start of the competition.
"I have struggled a lot this year. I went abroad to practice. I went to learn from a foreign coach but my performance dropped. The whole year had gone to waste. There was poor performance in every competition one after the other," Annu told PTI in an interview. "I had decided before the Asian Games that I would leave sports. Despite so much effort, I was not able to win anything. The government and SAI had invested so much money in me but I was not able to perform. After the World Championships in Budapest, I had thought of quitting the sport."
In the World Championships played in Budapest, Annu was 11th with a throw of 57.05 meters and failed to qualify for the finals as a result. Further, she finished in the seventh position at the Diamond League in Brussels with a throw of 57.74m. She was not able to touch the 60-meter mark throughout the season but when stakes were high she secured gold for India with a throw of 69.92 meters.
"It came to my mind that I have come here after facing so many struggles, so I will take one last chance in the Asian Games. I worked hard and was confident that I would play well and win a medal. The competition was tough with World Championship medallists and Olympic medallists. I had come down thinking that the worst that had to happen has already happened and now what will get worse and I only wanted gold, not silver or bronze," she revealed.
"I inspired myself by remembering the circumstances of my family and where I started from. I also thought that I was not the only one struggling. People have to struggle in every field." The javelin throw is turning out to be a bright medal prospect for India on the global stage with Neeraj Chopra inspiring others to succeed in the event with the kind of consistency he has shown. The athlete thinks that the mindset towards the sport is changing and its future is bright in India.
"Once an Olympic medal comes in any sport, the mindset changes. We feel that coming from the same environment, taking the same diet and when Neeraj can win, we can also win," she concluded.
"This builds trust among budding players. Now the players are performing so well. Seven-eight years ago players used to go to participate in the Olympics but now their aspirations have increased so much that they are not satisfied even with silver, they want only gold."
