Athletics Federation of India vice-president Anju Bobby George believes that while the spotlight will undoubtedly be on javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra to defend his Olympic title, the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team and steeplechaser Avinash Sable have the potential to spring a surprise at the Paris Games. A 29-member-strong Indian athletics contingent, led by Chopra, will compete across 16 medal events at the Paris Olympics. “Everyone knows one name in the athletics nowadays. But the other names, which I would reckon, are Avinash Sable, the 4×400 metres relay team and Kishore Jena (javelin),” said George in a media interaction felicitated by Jio Cinema on Thursday.

“We cannot predict about the medal. But all these events are finals, which itself proves that the path is right (for the Indian athletes).” A legend in her own right, who won a trailblazing world championship bronze in the long jump George feels if longer jumper Jeswin Aldrin and triple jumpers Abdulla Aboobacker and Praveen Chithravel match their personal bests, they could reach the podium.

“I had heavy expectations from (Murali) Sreeshankar, but he has unfortunately missed out due to an injury. Yet, our long-jumpers have all the potential, and if they can repeat their best, they will be in the podium or medal bracket.” The 47-year-old reckons Indian athletes have the potential to do well in technical events like javelin throw and jumps.

“We have talent aplenty, but fail to reach up to the mark. Indians have all the potential in technical events, i.e. long jump, triple jump and javelin, and we are slowly moving towards the edge,” she said.

Discussing the challenges athletes face today, she emphasized that “proper planning and coaching” are crucial for their development.

“Athletics in the Olympics has one of the highest medals, and we need proper planning and coaching to do well (in these disciplines). I was lucky enough back then — got a good coach and he was planning everything well for me,” she said.

“Nowadays, athletes are coming up slowly, like Shaili Singh, Ancy Sojan and Nayana James. Ancy and Nayana were in contention to make it before missing out.” Remarking on the success of grassroots programs in boosting Indian athletes’ impact at the Olympics, she highlighted the significant role of technology and emphasised the importance of promoting sports in schools.

“We need to track the right talents. In today’s AI (Artificial Intelligence) world, we must use advanced technologies to find the proper talents. Also, the Khelo India project is contributing to the grassroots level.

“But, we also need grassroots development at the school level, and unfortunately, the current school education system is not supporting the kids to come out and play.” “Also, the coaching system at the school level is not proper, which is something we need to work on and the government is trying that. These talents need to get the proper training and without burning out early, we need to preserve them for medals,” she added.

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