Athletics
Asian Games gold stops Annu Rani from retiring
Ahead of her historic performance at the Asiad, Annu was on the brink of saying goodbye to the sport due to a string of poor performances. But a gold medal in Hangzhou helped her recover from a slump.
Annu Rani becomes the first-ever Indian woman to secure gold in the women's javelin throw at Asian Games. (Source: AP)
Javelin thrower Annu Rani won an Asian Games gold medal to resurrect her career. The 31-year-old from Uttar Pradesh produced a season-best effort of 62.92m to become the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games gold in javelin throw.
But ahead of her historic performance at the Asiad, Annu was on the brink of saying goodbye to the sport due to a string of poor performances. But a gold medal in Hangzhou helped her recover from a slump.
“I have struggled a lot this year. I went abroad to practice. I went to learn from a foreign coach but my performance dropped. The whole year had gone waste. There was poor performance in every competition one after the other,” Annu was quoted as saying by PTI.
“I had decided before the Asian Games that I would leave sports. Despite so much effort, I was not able to win anything," Annu added.
"The government and SAI had invested so much money in me but I was not able to perform. After the World (Athletics) Championships in Budapest, I had thought of quitting the sport," she said.
Annu, at the World Championships in Budapest in August, failed to qualify for the final as she finished 11th with her best effort of 57.05 metres.
At the Diamond League in September, she made a seventh-place finish with a throw of 57.74m meters as a 60m throw kept eluding her.
But her disappointing run ended when she came up with a throw of 62.92m at the Asian Games and clinched the gold medal. This medal instilled fresh confidence in Annu, and she shelved her decision to take retirement.
Annu has now fixed her eyes on the Paris Olympics in 2024.
“Now the aim is to perform well in the Paris Olympics. I want to tell the players coming from the same background as me that they should not give up, they should fight for themselves and girls can do anything," she signed off.
