My father was upset at me taking up javelin throw: Annu Rani | More sports News – Times of India

MUMBAI: Female athletes are anyways known to not have things easy in India, but hearing Annu Rani, who scripted history when she became the first Indian female javelin thrower to win a med al (bronze) in the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham recently, narrate her struggles in reaching here, gives you goosebumps.
As she celebrated her 30th birthday at a Athletics Federation of India sponsorship event here on Monday, Rani, in an exclusive conversation with TOI, revealed the tale of how she managed to finally convince her father, Amarpal Singh, a farmer who was extremely reluctant about her becoming a javelin thrower, while she was growing up in Meerut’s Bahadurpur village.
“No one in my family knew that I had picked up the javelin throw in school. As I was a girl, I was clearly told to not step out of our house. I used to practice in the fields of our village. If anyone in my family would’ve come to know that I was practicing javelin throw, I would have been stopped from doing so,” recalled Rani.
“One day, I won the first prize in a competition in school. However, someone called up from the school and informed my dad about it. He rushed to the school on his bike. He was very upset with me that day,” she remembered.
Rani’s father wasn’t convinced about her daughter’s love for javelin throw even when she started winning medals at the inter-school level. “He was very upset with me. ‘We won’t send our daughters to compete outside the village. Why did you start playing this sport without our (parents’) permission,’ he scolded me.”
“However, my coach (Dharampal) convinced him to allow me to pursue javelin throw. In the villages, people are reluctant to send their daughters to another place to take part in competitions, because things aren’t good for girls, at times. So, my father decided to accompany me to my events,” she revealed.
“Initially, the coaches objected to him accompanying me for events, but my father told them that he would allow me to play only if he was allowed to be with me at all times,” she recalled.
Then, there were financial issues that she grappled with. “I’ve faced a lot of obstacles. I have travelled ticketless in trains to take part in competitions. When you go for a competition, you need good shoes and a kit. However, at that time, I didn’t have anything. I would ask my friends for help. I still cry when I remember those days,” she revealed.
How confident is she of winning a medal in the Asian Games next year, and the Paris Olympics in 2024? “I’m very experienced by now. In the Tokyo Olympics, I couldn’t do well because I was suffering from a knee and ankle injury. However, I’m trying to stay injury-free and working on my technique. I’m focusing on working hard and winning a medal for India,” she said.