Barcelona was my best, Atlanta the worst

Former middle-distance runner Shiny Wilson, who participated in four consecutive Olympics from 1984, shares her experience

How can I forget my first Olympics? The ultimate dream of any athlete is to participate in an Olympic Games. So you can imagine how excited I was when I was selected to go to Los Angeles at the age of 18. Myself, Usha, M. D. Valsamma and Vandana Rao started our journeys together. Geeta Zutshi, who was the Asian Games gold medallist, was training in the United States itself. We went by an Indian Airlines flight via Dubai, stayed in New York for a day and then proceeded to Los Angeles.

I was awestruck when I saw the Olympic village. Till then I had not seen a village where even the track to practice was inside. We used to practise there daily under the guidance of Saini Sir.

I still remember the kind of food they served there: chicken and ice creams of all varieties and lots and lots of fruits. In those days, in none of the camps were we served such good food, and I ate as if I had not seen chicken or ice cream or fruits before! I was also very young! Whenever Saini Sir caught me eating lots of chicken, he would tease me, ‘Only Shiny has no problem with the food’. Though we carried lots of pickles with us I was not much bothered about that because I simply loved what was available there.

I was so nervous and tensed the night before my event that I could not even close my eyes. I did not eat anything that night. I do not know how many times I read the Bible and prayed to the image of Jesus Christ that I carried with me.

For the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, only Usha, Mercy Kuttan, and myself were selected. After our successful performance at the Asian Games, he and Sonia Gandhi had given us a good reception.

In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics only two were selected in the athletics squad: Bahadur Prasad (5000m) and myself (800m). I still cherish the Barcelona Olympics because I was the captain of the Indian contingent. Everybody was surprised to see an Indian lady in sari leading the team and carrying the flag. It was one of the best moments in my entire career as an athlete. As I entered the stadium with the flag in my hand, and when they announced ‘India’, I cannot explain what I felt.

Atlanta was the most disappointing experience of my life. I was in great form when I left India. I was hopeful of reaching the final. In the SAF games I even clocked less than two minutes. But when we reached Atlanta I started getting a slight pain in my legs. So I was asked not to run the 800 metres.

I still remember what happened at the Trivandrum airport later. The Kerala government wanted to give us a reception at the airport after Usha and Valsamma reached. So I was also asked to reach there and be with them. The Chief Minister and the Sports Minister were also there, and there was a huge crowd waiting. In a midi skirt and T-shirt I might have looked like a schoolgirl! As I was walking towards Usha and Valsamma a police officer pushed me away asking, ‘what are you doing here?’ I got so upset that I ran away crying. Soon the minister came to console me. It became such a big issue that the next day’s papers carried it as big news on the front page. Today, when I think about all that, I feel like laughing.

As told to Malini Banerjee