Junior Worlds medallist lengthy jumper Shaili can break my nationwide document, says Anju Bobby George

Anju Bobby George, the 2003 World Championship bronze medallist, is for certain about Shaili Singh breaking her long-standing nationwide document of 6.83 metres. The 17-year-old from Jhansi, who trains in Bengaluru, has the potential to win an Olympic medal, Anju believes.
On Sunday, Shaili, 17, received the silver medal on the World U20 Championships in Nairobi with a leap of 6.59 metres (wind assisted), ending behind European junior champion Maja Askag of Sweden by one centimetre. Her earlier greatest was 6.48 metres, however a wind velocity of two.2 metres per second means her greatest leap on Sunday received’t be entered within the document books although she completed second.

#athletics #LongJump
India’s #ShailiSingh wins silver within the ladies’s lengthy leap with a private greatest* of 6.59m on the #WorldU20Championships . Misses gold by a centimetre to Sweden’s Maja Askag, the junior European champion. pic.twitter.com/fMDMnnceYO
— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) August 22, 2021
“She can improve on the national record. Our main target for Shaili is to help her finish on the podium at the Olympic Games, which is the most valuable thing. If our trainee can win a medal, I will consider it as my own,” Anju says.
Anju set the nationwide document on the 2004 Athens Olympics the place she completed fifth.
Shali is mentored by Anju and coached by her husband Robert Bobby George, a high-performance coach with the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
Shaili got here below Robert’s wings when she was 14, a lot sooner than Anju who was about 20 when Robert began teaching her. Getting formal teaching early meant Shaili didn’t choose up any technical flaws that are troublesome to appropriate as one grows older.
“I was able to achieve whatever I could because of Robert. I had a taped leg and only one kidney. So if you look at it, Shaili has great potential,” Anju provides.
A younger Shaili may have gone unnoticed at a junior championship practically 4 years in the past if not for Robert trying past the medallists.

“She will definitely break Anju’s national record but don’t worry my 7-year-old daughter Andrea is a natural athlete too, she will eventually overcome Shaili.” – Coach Robert to @IExpressSports in June. She simply received the lengthy leap silver on the #U20WorldAthleticsChampionships pic.twitter.com/J2rs9oGgAH
— Andrew Amsan (@AndrewAmsan) August 22, 2021
Robert noticed a skinny lengthy jumper ending exterior the medal positions on the nationwide junior athletics meet in Vijayawada. He forgot to seize her strategy on the runway, take-off and flight on his telephone. But the 14-year-old from Jhansi stood out due to her lean muscle tone and powerful will.
Robert didn’t recall her identify again then. When he returned house, he instructed his spouse Anju to maintain a watch out on the subsequent competitors.
Less than per week later, Anju was on the Inter-district Junior Championships in Visakhapatnam. One take a look at Shaili and she or he knew who her husband was speaking about. Anju shot a video and forwarded it to Robert. A couple of months later, Shaili, after being assessed by specialists at SAI, was making her technique to Bengaluru the place the couple are primarily based.
Anju stated she knew the teen had the potential to win worldwide medals when she noticed her in Visakhapatnam.
“She was a rough diamond. To be able to find an athlete with potential is a valuable thing. We knew if we guided her, she would make it big,” Anju says.
Shaili was additionally blessed with fast-twitch muscle tissue which assist an athlete produce sudden bursts of vitality and are perfect for sprinters and jumpers. “It is because of her genes that she has this muscle type,” Anju says.
A steely willpower and constructive angle, regardless of not profitable a medal, was seen when Anju watched her leap on the age-group occasion.
“She was jumping about 4.50 metres but I could see her competitive spirit. She was running awkwardly but I thought she had potential. When she started training with Robert, it was clear she was very bright when it came to picking up technical advice. If you told her something just once, she had the ability to immediately understand and follow it. Moreover, she was ready to take on the training schedule without any hesitation,” Anju says of Shaili, who’s a part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme jumps academy.