Anjali Devi was ecstatic as she crossed the finish line in the 400m event at the National Inter State Athletics Championships on Friday evening. She let out ‘yes.. yes.. yes..’ as she knelt and kissed the track after clinching her first gold with a new personal best timing in a 400m race after a gap of four years.
It was doubly joyous for Anjali because she had smashed the Asian Games qualification mark (52.96s) set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) by recording 52.89s (heats), 51.48s (semifinals) and 52.03s (finals).
Anjali had a breakthrough as a leading quarter-miler in the country when she came out of nowhere to win gold at the 2019 Open Nationals in Bhubaneswar with a timing of 51.79s. It was fitting that the 24-year-old returned to the event after years in obscurity and claimed gold at the same venue in her first 400m race in four years.
Back then in 2019, everyone thought Anjali would go on to represent India at the Olympics in Tokyo. She won another gold in 400m during the Inter State Championships in Lucknow with a time of 51.53s, which was the fastest of the season. Those two timings were enough to earn her a berth in the World Championships in Qatar.
But in the three races – all in 200m events – she ran between 2020 and 2022, she never competed in 400m.
In 2019, she ran close to 15 races. At the 2021 Federation Cup, she pulled her left thigh muscle in a training session which later turned out to be a quad muscle tear. The injury meant she had to give the Olympics a miss.
After surgery and a lengthy rehab, the runner from Haryana returned to action in the 2022 All India Inter-Railway Championships in August with a time of 23.95s in the 200m event.
But the Inter State Championships here was her first major event in nearly three years.
“My main goal was to participate in the competition,” said Anjali, after the final, adding, “Because when competition came around, I used to get injured. I used to feel bad about it. So now, it feels good to compete.”
Anjali revealed there have been times when she has felt depressed due to recurring injuries just before a competition.
And through her injury nightmares, she backed herself to bounce back. “I always trusted myself and had trust in my body that I could do it,” she added.
With the Hangzhou Asian Games just three months away, India will want to continue its strong run in the women’s 400m and 4x400m relay events. And with Hima Das out of the picture, AFI will hope Anjali can maintain her fitness and doesn’t go off the radar again.
Anjali feels there is more to come.
“I know I can improve because this is my first competition so I needed this confidence. I have come back after a nine-month rest and have had only four-five weeks of workouts. I think I can go to 49.90. If I can continue to workout and there are no disruptions, I believe I can do that,” she said.
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