Asian Games 2026: Anju Bobby George backs India to win 30-32 athletics medals

Anju Bobby George backed Shaili Singh (L) and Ancy Sojan to challenge for the top two positions in the women’s long jump at the Asian Games. | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT

In her second term as senior vice-president of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), former long jump star Anju Bobby George spoke enthusiastically about the national federation’s plans and expressed confidence that India would improve on its previous record tally of 29 athletics medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

“...as an administrator, I am enjoying. And this is the peak of our athletic time. We got multiple world-level medals, and most of the events we are performing well. We targeted, and we achieved. It’s [India’s medals tally in athletics] going to be somewhere between 30 and 32. I guess that is a realistic number,” Anju told Sportstar in a virtual interaction on Thursday.

Anju’s record jump of 6.83m at the 2004 Athens Olympics was erased by Ancy Sojan in June at the Inter-State meet in Bhubaneswar, when the 25-year-old leapt 6.88m. The 49-year-old strongly felt that long jumpers Ancy and Shaili Singh will finish in the top two positions at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

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“Both are actually pushing each other. Normally during my time, nobody was there in my country to push me beyond. I was always competing abroad. But the great part for them is they have equally good competitors in India. They are pushing each other and are actually in their peaks for this season. We are expecting two medals from both—nothing less than that,” said Anju, who was the gold medallist at the 2002 Busan Games.

The emergence of young athletes as international stars, argued Anju, has been due to the AFI’s extensive focus on grassroots development across the country, which has helped in the transition of young athletes to senior competition.

“We (AFI) are not focusing only on the senior-level athletes. We are focusing on the grassroots level and the middle-aged athletes. So, that path should be easy. The transition should be easy. We stopped national camps last year. So, all the athletes are getting equal rights. They can train and compete anywhere and can avail all the facilities.”