Trust your talent over shortcuts, says Ancy Sojan on School Games doping scandals
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It was by battling fierce odds that Kerala’s own Ancy Sojan rose to become one of Asia’s premier women’s long jumpers. With back-to-back silver medals at the Asian Games, her triumph is underpinned by sheer grit, resolute determination, and an indomitable spirit that refuses to yield.
Ancy first broke onto the athletics scene through school sports meets while studying at the Government Fisheries Higher Secondary School in Nattika. In the wake of Olympian Anju Bobby George’s blistering critique of rampant malpractices in school athletic meets, Ancy Sojan weighs in on the issue.
There are no shortcuts to success
There is rampant fraud taking place at school sports meets today. Age-fudging is widespread, and worse still, children are being pushed into doping. Just the other day, I came across a disturbing report about school students being administered growth hormones to compete. What’s truly alarming is hearing kids casually tell their peers that taking these substances gave them a huge boost in confidence.
If you are doing this, you are on the wrong path. First and foremost, you must believe in your own innate ability. Those who peddle performance-enhancing drugs will spin all kinds of stories to lure young athletes in, and children blindly buy into the hype. In doing so, they end up stripping away all faith in their own natural talent.
Think of Russia who were banned from the Olympics altogether over doping. If we carry on like this, India could very well meet the same fate. Whoever is resorting to doping must put an immediate stop to it.
Athletes who climb the podium at school meets fueled by banned substances will not make it very far. The moment their school days are over, their performances will inevitably fizzle out. The physical side effects will take their toll, and their form will fall off a cliff.
Instead of hunting for shortcuts, trust your talent and put in the hard graft. That is the only real way to progress and achieve lasting excellence. What we truly need is to build the right infrastructure and provide proper facilities to nurture genuine, raw talent.
