I have participated in four consecutive Olympics from the 1984 Los Angeles Games to ’96 Atlanta. It is not easy for a woman to compete in four back-to-back Olympic Games. I did so at a time when facilities were not great and qualifying marks were strict.
I would pick the 1984 Games as the best as it was my first experience at the quadrennial event. But the 1988 Games in Seoul, too, was memorable in many ways.
Since we had earlier been to the Seoul Sports Complex for the 1986 Asian Games, it was not new for us. When it came to facilities and aura, the 1988 Olympics was better than the 1986 Asian Games.
I still vividly remember the ‘84 and ‘88 Olympic Games. In both the Games, we went gaga over the weight training facilities and the beauty parlours. There was a sweet experience in Seoul. After tasting the bland food at the hall, my fellow Indian competitor Mercy Kuttan and I went to the kitchen, added a few spices to make it tastier. Everyone was laughing at us. It was fun. No doubt, the food was good overall. Then, we met Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson. At that time, we couldn’t get many photographs. Whatever we have was what the Press photographers clicked. Also, it was nice meeting Lim Chun-ae, the girl who got the gold in the 1986 Asian Games after I was disqualified from 800m for changing the lane early. Lim’s parents had come to the 1988 Olympic Games and we took photos with them. It was a very nice feeling.
At the 1988 Olympics, we didn’t do much shopping as we did at the ’86 Asian Games. However, we did watch quite a few movies.
On the track, I finished 18th in 800m in the Heats and lost early in the Heats in the women’s 4x400m relay. I am happy to say at every Olympic Games, I improved my timings. And the bonding I share with my relay-mates, Mercy, Vandana Rao and Vandana Shanbhag is something I will cherish forever. We enjoyed our moments and I am still in touch with them.
I also recently sent my birthday wishes to P. T. Usha, who competed in 400mH, at the ’88 Games.
As a woman athlete, things were different then. I was afraid to go to the National camp alone. Every time, there was camp in Patiala my parents would enquire with other athletes’ families as to who could accompany the athlete. Things have now changed for the better. There was one incident at the 1985 World Indoor Games in Paris. From India, only high jumper N. Annavi and I were selected. The climate was very cold. I was put up in a ladies hostel while Annavi stayed far away from me. I used to train alone. It was safe but not easy at all.
After I got married to swimmer Wilson Cherian in 1988, I used to go with him. Sometimes, he was at the National camp with me. After marriage and motherhood, I became the National champion and took part in two more Olympic Games in 1992 & ’96. I am so happy that javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics and is expected to win this time too in Paris. Our relay runners, men and women, are doing well. It all depends on the day. I hope and believe that the Indian athletics contingent does even better in Paris.
For me, participation at the Games was the ultimate as it is the dream of everyone. But very few get to live that dream and I am one of the very few who has done that. I, as a woman and an athlete, had my share of difficulties and struggles in the journey to achieve the Olympic dreams. But it was all worth the effort in the end.
As told to K. Keerthivasan
