Nagraj Gollapudi

Shiny Wilson is a busy mother. She is as occupied today as she was a decade or so back when she was setting Indian and a few Asian tracks ablaze in the 800 metres.

"I have a baby, who is eight months old... you know," her smiling tone comes across the telephone from Chennai. As the new-born takes up her time in the house so does here hectic work schedule as Public Relations Officer with the Food Corporation of India in the Tamil Nadu capital. Still, she found some time to talk about the present state of Indian athletics and what is in store for the fans at the forthcoming Asian Games, in Busan, South Korea.

Being a mother has never diverted her attention from her first love -- sport. In 1991 she had a unique record for herself: after giving birth to her first baby in 1990, she returned the very next year to win a gold at the Asian Track and Field meet and achieve the first of being a mother and winning a medal.

Talking about India's hopes at Busan, Shiny has complete faith in ace quarter-miler K M Beenamol, the 2000 Sydney Olympics semi-finalist in the 400 metres. She says the Kerala girl will win the 800 metres gold.

Shiny, who was so close to bagging the elite medal at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games in the same event till she changed lanes innocently, thinks Beenamol's consistently improving performances at home and abroad suggest she could achieve greater heights.

"I rate Beenamol to win the 400 metres and definitely the 800."

It's no surprise that Shiny favours the women more than the men when it comes to medals although that requires no justification, as our women have been improving consistently while their male counterparts lag behind by miles. Others who pass Shiny's grade and stand in good stead of winning a medal are Anju B George [long jump and triple jump], Bobby Aloysious [high jump], discus thrower Neelam Singh. "They have done well on the circuit and are capable of returning with a medal.'

Another event where Shiny is confident that the Indians will clinch a medal is the 4 X 400 metres relay for women. As for the men, she places her bets on the shot put event and, maybe, the 4 X 400 metres men's relay.

Shiny, who is on the Indian selection panel along with the likes of Asian sprint legend P T Usha, 11-time men's 100 metres national champions Adille Sumariwala and former shot putter Bahadur Singh, says the support from the Amateur Athletic Federation of India has done wonders for Indian athletics.

"With the AAFI hosting frequent circuit meets and giving the athletes the required exposure by sending them abroad, it has started paying rich dividends.

"Also the recent stint in Moscow, where the Indian athletes were training under their Russian coaches, may help them improve their performances in future. With the facilities being upto international standards there and the few competitions they took part in, the Indian athletes should have gained valuable exposure."

The 1984 Arjuna awardee and 1998 Padmashree recipient feels there is still much to be done to see Indians performing well at the international level. Her primary, and most important, concern is that "people are not taking up the sport easily".

"Recently Usha and I were chief guests at a school athletic meet and I was appalled to see the low turnout for athletics. I feel the sport is lacking at the school-level, which is very disheartening."

The cure? Introduce sports as a subject in the school curriculum.

"As the kids don't have the required time for play, as much of their time is taken by the school, tuitions and so on, physical education should be made compulsory in schools."

With sports already becoming a career rather than pastime, Shiny sees no reason why there should be a shortage of athletes in India. Also money is no more a problem, she says.

"In my days I got Rs 1,000 only when I won a medal; now the Union Government gives one lakh rupees [100,000] to a winner. And now the government has announced Rs 20 lakh [two million] as prize-money for a gold medal winner at the Asian Games. That, by any standards, is big money. And it is definitely good for the sport as people get attracted to these incentives."

This also, concludes Shiny, spices up the competition, which in turn is good for the sport.

Major achievements of Shiny Wilson

Olympics:
1984 [Los Angeles, USA]: First Indian woman to reach the semi-finals in the 800 metres; 4 X 400 metres final.
1988 [Seoul, South Korea]: No medal.
1992 [Barcelona, Spain]: Captain of the Indian team, no medal.
1996 [Atlanta, USA]: No medal.

Asian Games:
1982 [New Delhi]: fifth place in the 800 metres.
1986 [Seoul]: 800 metres -- disqualified for overstepping her lane; Silver in the 400 metres; gold in 4 x 400 metres relay.
1990: Didn't participate
1994 [Hiroshima]: Bronze in the 800 metres; Silver in the 4 X 400 metres relay.

Asian Track and Field meets: Represented India six times. Won seven gold, five silver and two bronze medals.

World Cup Athletics: Only Indian and Asian to compete in four World Cup meets

SAF Games: Represented India in seven of the eight SAF Games. Won 18 gold and two silver medals.

Other major accolades:
1984: Arjuna Award

1991: Voted India's Best Sportswoman of the Year

1998: Padmashree