Indian athletes should be taught to celebrate their wins to make the sport more attractive, feels Anju Bobby George.
“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.”
She also feels that athletics 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.”
