With hammer and pole, Anushka Yadav and Sindhushree G. break barriers
Young athletes Anushka Yadav and Sindhushree G. have achieved national records and qualified for the Asian Games, overcoming personal and physical challenges. Their success highlights the growing competitiveness and talent development in Indian athletics.
Why it matters
Their stories illustrate the impact of grassroots support and individual perseverance in achieving elite sporting success.
Ace long jumper M. Sreeshankar recently said that the Asian Games was ‘bigger than the Olympics’ for Indians because the country collects a lot of medals at the continental event and the athletes receive handsome cash awards for the medals they win.
Understandably, the push from athletes to book their spots in the Aichi-Nagoya Asiad-bound squad through the only selection-trials event — the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar last month — was nothing less than spectacular.
Amid the fall of long-standing National records, the breaking of psychological barriers, and scores of personal bests, two unheralded women — 18-year-old hammer thrower Anushka Yadav and 25-year-old pole vaulter Sindhushree G. — surprised many by recording unexpected National marks and earning the right to make their Asian Games debuts.
Their journeys are different, yet interesting.
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