Shiny Wilson

I was the youngest member of the 1982 Asian Games team. I was only studying in the tenth standard when I was chosen to participate in the Games. It was only for the sake of experience that I was included in the team, especially because it was happening in India.

You can imagine the excitement of a school girl when she gets selected for such a big event like the Asian Games. I was so thrilled to be selected for the Asian Games camp itself. So, it took some time to digest the news that I was also part of the team representing India. It is true that I had represented India in the World junior meet, but this time I was participating along with the seniors; I was not even 16 then.

I still remember wearing a sari for the march past. I think it was for the first time that I wore a sari. Anyway, I must say I felt great. I was beaming throughout the march past. We marched with so many Indians cheering loudly for India, and I don’t think I will ever forget that day.

I couldn’t believe myself when I came second in the heats (800 metres) and got selected to the final! What a moment it was! In the final, I came fifth but I was not at all disappointed. Firstly, I considered it a great achievement to be in the training camp itself. Then I was in the team, and there I was in the finals too. What more did I want then? Winning a medal did not even enter my mind.

After the final, our chief coach, Saini, told me not to get disappointed. He also predicted then that I would win the gold in the next Asian Games! That was more than enough for me to feel good. Anybody who saw me then, smiling merrily, would have thought that I had won the event!

Gita Zutshi was one athlete who I admired, and it was enough for me then to run alongside her. She came in second, and I was fifth. My timing was 2 minutes 11 seconds, which is my best yet and quite good. In those days, others were clocking only 2 minutes. 16 seconds and 2 minutes 18 seconds.

Wilson (who later became her husband) also was there at the camp, representing India in swimming. We knew each other as we were from Kerala, and there was nothing more than that. Wilson came fourth in the final, I think.

I was the fifth member of the 4x400m relay team, so I could not participate in the race. If I had concentrated a little more on the 400 metres, I think I would have got a chance to be in the relay team. Of late, even the fifth member gets a medal but it was not so in those days.

I went back a happy and satisfied girl. The most satisfying thing was that I could clock my best timing of 2 minutes 11 seconds there. In my mind, I thanked Saini Sir, the chief coach, because he made me work very hard, and said several times that I would be a name to reckon with on the athletics scene.

1986 Seoul Asian Games

I still cannot think of the Seoul Games without feeling sad and disappointed. I finished the 800 metres finals, 20 metres ahead of the rest and won the gold, but, as you know, I was disqualified for moving into the next track. It would have been justifiable to strip me of my medal if I had disturbed anybody but I was so far away from everyone that I would not have posed any threat. I still feel they should have given me that gold medal.

What else can I say but it was my misfortune that Korea, the host country, got their first athletics medal in that event. Everything went against me, and I lost my medal.

I was jumping with joy after finishing first. My joy knew no bounds when I knew that it was a new Asian Games record. The announcement said that I won the gold with a record timing. After some time, Korea protested and they disqualified me.

I cried and cried and cried when they announced my disqualification. Every member from the Indian contingent, including the minister, came and consoled me, but what was the use? I lost the medal when I deserved to win. The minister told me that I didn’t lose the medal, only India did, and that I would get the cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh [100,000] that was kept for all the gold medallists. The Government of Kerala also promised to give me the cash prize. It is another matter that both the central and state governments never gave me the promised cash prizes!

Wilson and I were in love by then and we had decided to get married too. He also consoled me a lot. I couldn't sleep even for a second at night. I spent the whole night crying. I also refused to eat.

Without proper sleep and proper food, I ran the 400 metres the next day and won the silver. Usha won the gold. We also won the gold in the 4x400 relay with a new Asian Games record. But how could I forget my 800 metres gold medal, which I still feel is mine. Even today, even after 16 years, the incident brings tears to my eyes.

See the irony: a month after they stripped me of my gold medal, there came a new rule that if an athlete did not disturb any one or did not get any advantage, he or she should not be punished. Now that the rule has been changed, my hope is that one day, they will give my gold back to me!

On the lighter side, we girls from Kerala used to invade the Games kitchen and prepare dishes that we liked! Somehow, we didn’t like the food they cooked. Of course, we used to carry many varieties of pickles with us. But at Seoul, we used to make chicken and fish curry the Indian way, rather the Kerala way, with lots of chilly and oil, and all the Indians used to come to us to taste our truly Kerala dishes! Later on, the village atmosphere changed, they never used to allow us inside the kitchen.

1990 Beijing Asian Games

I did not participate in the 1990 Asian Games as I was pregnant with my first child then. It was on the closing day, on the 7th of October that my daughter Shilpa was born. I was not at all disappointed that I could not go. I was happier because we were blessed with our first child.

Three months after Shilpa’s birth, I was back in the field training once again. Within a year, I became the Asian champion.

1994 Hiroshima Games

I was unlucky once again. The Chinese were so good that year that we just couldn’t reach anywhere near them. They had become world class and were in amazing form. Most of them were world champions too.

I could win only a bronze in the 800 metres. The Chinese won both the gold and the silver in my favourite event. Our 4x400m relay team won the silver behind the Chinese. Just imagine, we could win only two bronze and a silver in athletics.

After that, the Chinese domination waned. I do not know how they gave such an amazing performance that year alone. Jyothirmoyee Sikdar, who won the gold in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games, was fourth at Hiroshima. Rosakutty won the silver there.

I think I am unlucky as far as Asian Games are concerned. Otherwise, why would this happen to me again and again? I have participated in six Asian Track and Field meets and won 7 Gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze. I participated in 75 international meets, including four World Cups and four Olympics. I have won 18 gold medals from seven SAF Games. Still, I have not won a single individual gold at the Asian Games. Indeed, the Asian Games have been very unlucky for me.

- As told to  Shobha Warrier

Major achievements of Shiny Wilson

Olympics:
1984 [Los Angeles, USA]: First Indian woman to reach the semi-finals in the 800 metres; 4 X 400 metres final.
1988 [Seoul, South Korea]: No medal.
1992 [Barcelona, Spain]: Captain of the Indian team, no medal.
1996 [Atlanta, USA]: No medal.

Asian Games:
1982 [New Delhi]: fifth place in the 800 metres.
1986 [Seoul]: 800 metres -- disqualified for overstepping her lane; Silver in the 400 metres; gold in 4 x 400 metres relay.
1990: Didn't participate
1994 [Hiroshima]: Bronze in the 800 metres; Silver in the 4 X 400 metres relay.

Asian Track and Field meets: Represented India six times. Won seven gold, five silver and two bronze medals.

World Cup Athletics: Only Indian and Asian to compete in four World Cup meets

SAF Games: Represented India in seven of the eight SAF Games. Won 18 gold and two silver medals.

Other major accolades:
1984: Arjuna Award

1991: Voted India's Best Sportswoman of the Year

1998: Padmashree

Also read:

We will get seven gold medals from athletics: P T Usha
'Leander and Mahesh are back, so it will be fun'
Beenamol a cinch for gold, says Shiny