How being short didn't stop hurdles athlete Anu Raghavan from etching a name in Indian athletics

India’s 2018 Jakarta Asian Games bronze medalist in women’s 400 meters hurdles Anu Raghavan stands 4 feet 11 inches above the ground. However, unperturbed by her height, she has set ambitious goals for the 2022 season. One of them is to crack the 56-second barrier for the low hurdles.

The 28-years-old said from Thiruvananthapuram.

“I couldn’t train hard post the Jakarta Asian Games due to family problems and pandemic. But things are getting better which has added to my confidence. I should be able to improve my personal best of 56.72 seconds for the 400m hurdles in 2022 Asian and Commonwealth Games.”

Improving the color of the medal at the 2022 Asian Games is the second goal for Anu Raghavan.

“I need to be more consistent throughout the 400m hurdles race. I’m good over the first five hurdles but started struggling in the second half of the race. I take roughly 32 seconds for the second 200m of the race whereas I can run the first 200m close to 25 seconds. A good balance would enable me to crack the 56 seconds barrier,” she explains.

Olympian and former great PT Usha’s national record of 55.42 seconds was set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Usha missed out on the bronze medal by a wafer-thin margin against Cristieana Cojocaru of Romania.

Anu Raghavan has also done micro and macro studies to achieve her ambitious goal of cracking the 56 second barrier for the 400m hurdles.

“It is a challenging goal, but I’m confident of breaking the 56 second barrier. I have a personal best of 53.5 seconds for the 400m flat. I need to improve my basic speed, it shall assist me to achieve my target in 2022,” she added.

Inspired by the outstanding feats of Sydney McLaughlin and Dalliah Mohammad in the just concluded US Olympic Trials 2021 in Eugene, Anu Raghvan said, if athletes from the USA could do it, India too, should make an effort.

“The performances of Sydney Mclaughlin and Dalliah Mohammad is certainly inspiring for me. Breaking the 52-second barrier is all about a good talent scouting system which is missing in India. We only get facilities when we reach a certain level that too as long as we are in the camp otherwise not,” she said.

The journey of Anu Raghavan

Anu Raghavan revealed her journey into sprint hurdling was accidental and not pre-planned.

I had a fascination for high hurdles in school, so I randomly took up 100 meters hurdling. Since I wasn’t successful in high hurdles as I didn’t have good height, but seeing my enthusiasm the school games teacher advised me to shift to low hurdling (400m hurdles),” recalled Anu Raghavan.

As a teenager, Anu Raghavan had no idea what it would take to run in the event of 400m hurdles. Nor did she have any idea how to sail over 10 barriers in a race where each barrier stood at a height of 2 ft 6 inches.

But driven by passion, Anu Raghavan kept on marching to get the right break in the event that is meant for taller athletes.

“I was confused. I couldn’t clear the hurdles properly. Between 18 to 22 years, I was just hovering around 60 seconds for the 400m hurdles. I struggled to break 60 seconds as there were no proper facilities at my disposal. The fact that I enjoyed physical activity kept me wanting to continue to compete,” said Anu Raghavan.

The real breakthrough came in 2014 for Anu Raghavan when she broke the 60-second mark for the 400m hurdles.

“My next target was to have a good rhythm to cross the hurdles. I’m still learning the technique to sail over the hurdles,” said Anu Raghavan.

In 2017, the sprint hurdler from Kerala raced to win the silver medal with a time of 57.2 seconds at the Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

The following year at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, she cracked the 57-second barrier by clocking 56.92 seconds to win a bronze medal.

“I’m more confident and richer in experience in sprint hurdling now. I hope things get better and we all get more time to train outdoors for the 2022 season,” said Raghavan.