New Delhi | Legendary athlete Anju Bobby George believes it's just a matter of time before Indian javelin star Neeraj Chopra gets his mojo back and delivers for the country at the big stage -- the Asian Games and 2028 Olympics.
Recovering from a lower back injury he had sustained before the Tokyo World Championships in September 2025, Chopra made a late start to the season at the Doha Diamond League where he finished fourth with a throw of 85.69m.
The 28-year-old two-time Olympic medallist has recently confirmed his participation in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games to be held in Aichi-Nagoya from September 19 to October 4.
"Neeraj, I guess, when the competition toughness goes up, he will respond to that well. He's an Olympic champion and a world championship medallist. I mean, that's something no Indian has ever done. Yes, that experience will speak when the time comes," world championship bronze medallist long jumper Anju told PTI in an interview.
"He has been in the international arena for almost 10 years. We cannot tell that he is not in his great form or he is not doing well. He gave enough during his prime, still he is in his prime. He did a lot for us. Let him enjoy the game now." Chopra had won gold in the last edition of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in 2023, with a throw of 88.88m.
In Aichi-Nagoya, Chopra is expected to face rising Sri Lankan star Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, who breached the 90m mark earlier this year and won two Diamond League titles, including in Doha where Chopra finished fourth.
Meanwhile, Anju strongly believes that her 22-year-old national record in long jump was always breakable and had pinned her hopes on two jumpers -- her own student Shaili Singh and Ancy Sojan from her home state Kerala - to obliterate her mark.
"I was expecting that Shaili or Ancy would break my record because in the Asian Games or Commonwealth Games this year, where athletes always perform their best. But since 2021, when Shaili started performing in the international level, I was expecting a good jump from her. At last Ancy could do this. Records are meant to be broken. I guess Shaili will soon come close too or she will break that," she said. "But yes, 22 years, it's a long time. Someone should come and break because once I moved out of competition, it's public, anyone can come and break it. I enjoy the competition between the two. I've known her (Ancy) since she was very young. She's again from Kerala. So you know, jumpers mostly comes from Kerala.
"Yes, she's a hard worker and a very aggressive competitor. She was very close to this mark many times. She did a 6.75 recently, so I was expecting that either Shaili or Ancy would perform well." She pointed out that her ward Shaili is equally talented.
"Shaili is very young, she's 21. The problem with her is that she is not steady in her approach. She kept on changing her approach style. And at last we fixed one style and in this competition (National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar), she stuck with that and she could at least did a 6.67.
"She needs to further polish this approach. And I feel she's a 7 plus jumper. And she will be touching that soon.," Anju said. Recalling how she established the record at the Athens Olympics in 2004, Anju said: "Yes, it is almost a 22-year-long waiting period. In 2004, I started, I opened my jumps in the Diamond League, winning gold in Doha with 6.83 and in Pryfon and Eugene, again I did 6.83 in the same year and the third time I did it at the Athens Olympics.
"Though I was capable of crossing seven metres many times, unfortunately, I couldn't do that.
"But yes, 22 years, it's a long time. Someone should come and break it because once I moved out of competition, it's public, anyone can break it. Also, many times between 2004 and 2008, I was crossing seven metres in competition and in training but unfortunately, I couldn't mark that valid jump during the competition." Asked about Sarvesh Kushare's record breaking effort in men's high jump, Anju said: "I'm happy that he's been training in my academy for the last few months. He is such a phenomenal jumper, good talent, very disciplined, focused. He can further improve, and yes, 2.30 is not a small thing. He can fight for the World Championship or an Olympic medal." Anju George also highlighted that India's standard in athletics has improved by leaps and bounds.
"This is actually what we planned, what AFI was planning about 10 years ago. And this is the result, what we can see, what we are seeing now. It's not in one event. It was only one or two events before, like long jump, then javelin but now athletes are performing well in almost all events. Even in long distance running, in pole vault, in high jump, we are giving world-class performance." Anju also pointed out that AFI's gamble to stop the national camps is paying off. "When we decided to stop the camps, national camps, and athletes started going, athletes started finding their own training venues in multiple academies and multiple places, everybody was a little doubtful. But AFI has showed that this will help athletes to perform their best. So that is what we did, and that's the result of what we are seeing now."
