Teenage long jump star Shaili Singh is all set to jump to the next level

What difference does a centimetre make, you wonder? Ask 17-year-old Shaili Singh from Jhansi, who won the silver in long jump at the recently concluded World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi. In her first ever international competition, she clinched the second place with a personal best jump of 6.59m but missed the gold by 1 cm. In fact, she was leading the pack before Sweden’s Maja Askag edged her out.

Shaili, however, looks down at the silver medal hanging around her neck with pride. "It is my first [international] medal and so, it is special. When I went on the podium, I was seeing only my country's flag going up though I was second. It’s a first for me." 

Along with Shaili’s silver, India won another silver and a bronze in 10,000m race walk (Amit Khatri) and mixed 4x400m relay team event at the five-day meet, for its best-ever finish at any world championships. Shaili’s silver is the first long jump medal at the U20 world athletics championships.

Spotted by Robert Bobby George at a junior event in 2018, Shaili was invited to join the academy run by him and his wife, ace long jumper Anju Bobby George, in Bengaluru. Her single mother, who was a tailor, did not let the difficulties in her life clip Shaili’s wings and was only too happy to let the 14-year-old go to Bengaluru. "I was very excited when I got a call from [Bobby] sir asking me to join his academy. How could I ignore it? My mother, too, was happy and agreed to send me there though there were many who tried to dissuade her. She said ‘I am her mother, I am sending my daughter there’. Everything changed after I came to Bengaluru - it was like a new life for me."

Shaili is not too keen to talk about the past and the challenges faced by her mother in raising three children alone – her elder sister is studying BCom while her younger brother is in the sixth standard. She prefers, instead, to focus on the present and the future. Speaking about her jump at the competition, Shaili said she was not at all daunted by her competitors, especially those from Europe or America. "Sir had shown me videos of all other competitors before this event. He told me I have everything to perform as well or better than them. He said ‘don’t think so much about them; just focus on what you have to do’."

"It’s not like they have better access to training or facilities; we have the same in India, too. I didn’t find them doing anything different from us," she says.

One advice that coach Bobby gave his ward before the start of her event was to “observe the opposition, read their body language but exude confidence yourself. Don’t go with any negative factor into the competition".

For the husband-wife duo of Bobby and Anju Bobby George, Shaili's silver medal is immensely satisfying.

"As a coach, you need an athlete who has the soul and spirit to work hard, sacrifice and endure a lot. Shaili has that. Also, she follows my directions exactly,” Bobby said.

When asked to compare Anju and Shaili, he said, “Shaili came to my academy at 14. Anju came to train with me at 21. By then, the muscle memory etc are very difficult to change. That is the advantage with Shaili. What Anju was at 22 (in terms of long jump), Shaili is at 17."

Bobby, who is also training another couple of young athletes as part of AFI's junior programme, added that that Shaili has the advantage of training alongside a bunch of other upcoming long jump athletes. “Anju came a bit late to me, so some of her fundamentals needed correcting."

Anju, India's lone world championship medal winner, and also senior vice president, AFI, is over the moon with Shaili's achievements. "These junior kids will be the face of Indian athletics in coming years. Shaili will be ready for Asian Games next year. She is turning 18 soon. She is already in the 6-7m range; she will definitely be fighting for a medal in the Games."

Anju does not think that expectations from Shaili were putting pressure on the youngster. "Booby and I are there to guide her in her transition from junior to senior level."

Speaking on the occasion. Lalit K. Bhanot, chairman, planning committee, AFI, credited the federation’s district-level competition for India's improved performance in athletics at the world level. "We won three medals at this competition (World Athletics U20 Championships) and came close to winning in few other events.

"The performance of our junior athletes has been outstanding. Earlier, while our athletes would do well at domestic level, their performances at international level would come down. This is no more the case. This is the result of the inter-district competitions introduced by the AFI, though, at that time, there were not many takers for it. At the last inter-district competition held recently, there were around 600 districts taking part in Tirupathi," Bhanot said.

He also said that the AFI was the only federation to have completed nine competitions for the juniors despite the COVID-19 pandemic.