Hyderabad: 2005 World Athletics Final gold medal-winning track and field athlete Anju Bobby Geroge said Indian athletes should be taught how to celebrate victories to make athletics more attractive.
“We need to teach our athletes how to celebrate victories, we have to be entertainers also to attract spectators,” she said.
“We need to learn to entertain spectators, to engage them. That is what the Americans do, we need to celebrate. Fans are here to enjoy our speed, our jumps or our throws. There is no charm if there are no spectators in our sport.
“Initially I was also very shy but after moving with international athletes, I also learned to celebrate. I started celebrating from 2003 (the year she won a bronze at the Worlds). We need to show our happiness," Anju said.
She also feels that athletic meets need to be more compact.
“We can have small one-hour or two-hour programmes with a few specific events. The AFI is also planning to popularise certain events like javelin, walks, 400m and long jump among others.”
The senior vice-president of the Athletics Federation of India, Anju also said that there should be zero tolerance against doping, and she is keen to fight against this menace.
“I am ready to be in the front in the fight against doping,” said Anju, the only India to win a World Championships medal (bronze, 2003 Worlds in Paris).
India currently ranked seventh in World Anti-Doping Agency's December 2019 doping abuse list.
