NEW DELHI: Before Neeraj Chopra’s historic back-to-back podium finishes at the World athletics championships – including the recent gold won in the men’s javelin throw competition in Budapest on Sunday night – it was long jumper Anju Bobby George who gave India its first Worlds medal 20 years ago at the 2003 edition in Paris.
The two-time Olympian brought medal glory to India at a time when the facilities and equipment support were few and the federation politics took precedence over the country’s interest.
But she managed to rise above adversity and kept believing in her abilities. Anju sees the same trait of a champion athlete in Neeraj, who believes in himself, is supremely confident about his skill set and is focussed, determined and mature enough to chart his own path to glory.

The long jumper from Kerala was in the spectators’ stands in the Hungarian capital when the reigning Olympic champion was giving the nation back home immense joy and endless moments to cherish with his gold-winning throw of 88.17m.

“It was a great performance from Neeraj. I don’t have enough words to describe his performance. It was like a dream come true moment for all of us. After his Tokyo Olympics triumph, he has been continuously bringing laurels to the country. Believe me, he is not going to stop soon with the Paris Olympics lined up next year. Winning medals for India and reaching the top of the world, only great athletes can do that. Neeraj is a great athlete,” Anju told TOI on Tuesday here.
“It was after 20 years (at the Worlds) that I had company when Neeraj won the silver (in USA’s Eugene last year). This time, he did one better to win the gold. I was the team leader (of the Indian athletics contingent) and could witness the history in making from the stands. We knew it would come. He has matured with time. Now, he can solely aim for that 90m mark,” added Anju, who is also the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) vice-president.
The recently-concluded Budapest Worlds was truly historic for Indian athletics with as many as six Indian athletes, including the men’s 4×400 metres relay team, qualifying for the finals. Anju said the results augur well ahead of the Asian Games and Paris Olympics.
“So many Indians in the finals, it’s like a dream come true for Indian athletics. We are on the path to success. If things fall in place, we can expect a lot of medals from India at the Asiad and hopefully at the Olympics.”