Long jump great Anju to lead, Neeraj included

chandigarh: Long jump great Anju Bobby George was on Wednesday named chairperson of the Athletics Federation of India’s nine-strong athletes’ commission that features six women with javelin throw star Neeraj Chopra being its most prominent male member.

The other women in the new panel are runner Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, discus thrower Krishna Poonia, hurdler MD Valsamma, steeplechaser Sudha Singh and runner Sunita Rani. George, a 2003 World Championships bronze winner, is also a senior vice-president in the AFI.

All of them are retired and their induction is a noteworthy milestone in the AFI’s quest for gender parity in its set-up. The previous commission featured four women. Two-time Olympics medal-winning Neeraj is one of the four nominated members after consultations by the AFI’s executive council. The other two male members are 3,000 metres steeplechaser Avinash Sable and newly-elected AFI president Bahadur Singh Sagoo, an Asian Games shot put gold winner.