‘Expecting over 30 medals in athletics’ Anju Bobby George

Shaili Singh. Pic/AFP; (right) Ancy Sojan. Pic/AFP

Former India long jumper and current Athletics Federation of India's (AFI) senior vice president Anju Bobby George is expecting a rich medal haul from the country's track and field stars at the upcoming Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan (September 19 to October 4).

"We are expecting more medals [in athletics] than last time [29 medals at Hangzhou in 2023]. We are realistically expecting 30 to 32 medals," said George during a virtual interaction organised by Sony Sports Network on Thursday.

Anju Bobby George

George, a gold medal-winner at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, is keeping a keen eye on young long jumpers Ancy Sojan and Shaili Singh, backing them both to add to India's medal tally in Japan, while expressing confidence in Sojan's ability to become the first Indian woman to breach the seven-metre mark.

"We are definitely expecting medals from both Ancy and Shaili. Ancy broke my 22-year-old national record of 6.83m this year [with a 6.88m jump]. She is a great competitor, very aggressive. She's been notching 6.70m for a while now, and I can see potential in these two [to breach the 7m mark]. I think with Ancy's form, it's natural for her to be confident in doing so and that's why she has set that as her target for the Asian Games," explained George.

In her role with the AFI, George revealed that they have been working on long-term plans for India's success at global tournaments as well, which they hope will come to fruition by the 2036 Olympics.

"The main change we brought in is stopping the national camps and instead allowing athletes to train anywhere they want. We have also increased the number of domestic competitions. We now have over 40 events in a year across the country. We have also begun gene-testing. So we test the genes of previous athletes who have done well in their career and compare them to the genes of young athletes to ensure we pick the right talent at the grassroots level. So we are already thinking about the 2036 Olympics and how we can win multiple medals there," George said.