Annu Rani was contemplating retirement before her stunning comeback at the 2024 Asian Games.
After enduring her worst season in five years, she clinched India’s first-ever Asian Games gold in women’s javelin throw with her best throw in 17 months.
Now the trailblazer in women’s javelin throw is preparing for the Olympics.
Early Life
Annu Rani Dharayan was born on 28 August 1992 in Bahadurpur, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Her father, Amarpal, was a farmer, and her talent was first recognized by her brother, Upendra.
He noticed her upper body strength during a cricket game and began to train her using sugarcane sticks in an empty field.
Annu’s first javelin was a handcrafted bamboo stick due to financial constraints. She started playing javelin throw in 2010 at the age of 18.
Despite initial disapproval from her father, her brother’s support and her subsequent success, including breaking the national record in 2014, earned her father’s backing.
Rise to prominence
Her breakthrough came in the 2014 National Inter-State Athletics Championship in Lucknow, where she won gold with a throw of 58.83m, breaking a 14-year-old national record.
This qualified her for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she finished eighth. That same year, she won bronze at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, with a throw of 59.53 meters.
Annu continued to break her records, with notable performances in 2016 (60.01m) and 2019 (62.34m at the National Senior Athletics Championships in Patiala, Punjab).
She won a silver medal at the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships in Qatar in April 2019, qualifying for the World Athletics Championship and becoming the first Indian woman javelin thrower to participate in the event.
She also won bronze at the IAAF World Challenge event Golden Spike Ostrava in the Czech Republic and the Sportstar Aces Sportswoman of the Year Award in Athletics in 2020.
Annu’s career-best effort of 63.24m came at the National Interstate Athletic Championship in Patiala in 2021, and she became the first Indian female javelin thrower to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games with a bronze in Birmingham in 2022.
A comeback of ages at the Asian Games
Ahead of her historic performance at the Asian Games, Annu was on the verge of retiring due to a string of poor performances.
After enduring her worst season in five years, she clinched India’s first-ever Asian Games gold in women’s javelin throw with her best throw in 17 months.
The final at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium on Tuesday night was proof of Annu’s resilience. She moved to the top of the leaderboard with a 61.28m throw on her second attempt.
However, Sri Lanka’s Dilhan Nadeesha soon pushed her to second place with a new personal best of 61.57m. It was on her fourth attempt, with the Indian national anthem playing for Parul Choudhary’s 5000m gold, that Annu delivered a 62.92m throw, her best of the season, securing her position as the gold medalist.
“I was depressed and struggling with my performance all year. This was my last competition of 2023, and I just wanted to give it my all. This is an international gold medal for me finally. If this is possible, then anything else is. I have thrown 64-65 meters in practice… nothing seems impossible now. I want to do this at the 2024 Olympics,” the 31-year-old told The Bridge after her victory.
Major achievements
Asian Games
Gold medal – 2023 Hangzhou
Bronze medal – 2014 Incheon
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – 2022 Birmingham
Asian Championships
Bronze medal – 2017 Bhubaneswar
Silver medal – 2019 Doha
South Asian Games
Silver medal – 2016 Guwahati