Unsung Heroes | Karnataka’s barefoot girl who ran into Olympic history with her grit

“It was a small government school. There were sports events every year, and we used to participate in them. My sister and I were good at running, and our practice track was running around the APMC market barefoot,” she recalls.

Life started to change in Class 7 when Shakunthala saw something special in these barefoot runners. She advised their parents to send them to a sports hostel. The village was filled with disapproval. Send girl children away to a hostel? Unthinkable! But Jagadeeshappa made a decision that would change his daughters’ lives forever—he believed in them.

Shobha then joined the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) sports hostel in Kodagu, nearly 500 km away from home. “We had never lived outside our home. It was the first time around. We were barely 14-year-olds then. Forget the Olympics, we did not even know what Shampoo was back then. At times, we were ridiculed as we had carried soap pod (shikakai) from our home to wash our hair,” she laughs.

This was also the first time Shobha had run with a pair of shoes, provided by the department.

“We were pure vegetarians at home, but then in the hostel, we needed to eat eggs and meat to build stamina, as we needed protein. After our coach advised, I started consuming it,” she says.

The twins started winning medals in running and other sports. Looking at Shobha’s stamina and grit, her coach asked her to participate in a pentathlon—five sporting events—then barely explored among Indian athletes. “My strength was long jump, 100-metre hurdles and 200-metre running. Looking at my performance, my coach there put me into the pentathlon event, but later into the heptathlon events too,” she says.

Heptathlon is considered to be one of the toughest events in sports, where the athletes would participate in seven track and field events, and the winner would be decided based on the points they secure. It includes 100-metre hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 metres running, long jump, javelin throw and 800-metre running.

After Class 10, Shobha shifted to the DYES sports hostel in Mysuru, competing in state and national junior competitions. While Shobha was emerging as a promising athlete, she dominated at junior state- and national-level sports events.

By the time she completed Class 12 and joined an undergraduate course at the University of Mysore, her education had taken a backseat—she was among the national probables after winning bronze at nationals. In 1997, she secured a job at the Railways. In 2001, she won at the national games in Punjab.

In Shobha’s sports career, 2002 was a significant year: she was selected to represent India in the Asian Athletics Championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Shobha got a silver medal in the heptathlon, opening her international medal tally. In the next few months, she won a bronze medal at the Asian Games held in Busan, South Korea, in the same year.

In 2003, Shobha won the Afro-Asian Games held at Hyderabad, where she bagged her first gold medal at an international event. “I was at my best. I did not have a coach for the heptathlon in particular, but my entire practice was with the 400-metre group. Besides my Railways job, I did not have any recognition or sponsorship, as it is today,” she says.

Ligament tear at Athens

Having qualified for the Athens Olympics, Shobha was at the peak of her career at the age of 24. She had trained under coach Sanjay Garnaik and Yuri Ogordonik at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, in the run-up to the Olympics.

Shobha performed well on her first day and was scheduled to participate on the second day. Garnik told The Indian Express in 2020, “She wasn’t in a great position going into the final day. Probably 10th or 11, but that didn’t worry us because we were banking on her to cover the gap with solid performances in javelin throw and 800 metres.”

But tragedy struck on the final day of her event. In her first attempt, Shobha threw 44 metres, but in her second attempt, she suffered a ligament tear in her leg. This led to her losing points on two throws. Shobha was seen crying inconsolably, and she was carried off on a stretcher.

“I heard the snap, and I tried to get back on my feet, but when I could not, I was totally devastated. That is a day I cried so much in my life. I was not in a position to digest that I could not do my best,” she says.

With one hour left for the 800-metre run, everyone thought that at any moment, the Indian Olympic team would inform the authorities of Shobha’s withdrawal from the race. “I was in deep pain. The doctors around me told me that I needed surgery, and I just asked them, ‘Can I run?’ They were hesitant but said yes adding that it would have its effects. I did not want to give up,” she says.

An announcement was made that Shobha would be participating in the 800 metres but would take some painkillers and have a bandage on her left knee. Shobha limped to the track, which not only shocked the spectators but also her competitors.

“I know I was in severe pain and struggling. I did not want Did Not Finish (DNF) to be written against an Indian name at the Olympics. I was not in a position to stretch my legs, but when the race began, I started limping. After I crossed 200 metres, I could not feel anything, and my leg was numb. Though I was not in a state to perform at my best, I managed to complete it,” she says.

This was the moment Shobha JJ became the symbol of grit and determination. She completed 800 metres in the third place in 2.17.28, way behind her personal best, which is around 2:15. The javelin throw and running cost her heavily. She secured the overall points of 6,172 and ranked 11th. She was again carried back on a stretcher.

“If all had gone well, I feel confident even today, I would have made it to the podium,” she says.

In the overall points table, Carolina Kluft of Sweden won the gold medal with 6,952 points, Austra Skujyte of Lithuania scored 6,435, and British athlete Kelly Sotherton scored 6,424 points.

On the day, Shobha received a standing ovation at Athens for her determination. After P T Usha, here was another Indian woman athlete who drew the attention of the world, though not for a medal but grit.

Shobha, who returned to India, had to take a year break due to surgery, and then she again started participating in the events. In 2004, she was honoured with the Arjuna Award.

In 2004, Shobha was honoured with the Arjuna Award. (Wikimedia Commons)

She continued to dominate at the national level by winning heptathlon events. Her international success continued till 2007. In 2006, she won a bronze medal at the Asian Games held in Doha, Qatar, and a silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in 2007.

“Honestly, I was not at my best after Athens. That injury caused damage to my performance forever. I tried my best to overcome it,” she says.

Curtains on her career

In 2008, Shobha participated in the Beijing Olympics, where she finished th 29th. A year later, she drew curtains on her sporting career and continued to work with the South Central Railway zone of the Railways in Secunderabad.

Shobha, who continued to work to improve sports administration at the South Central Railway, remained out of the media glare. “I was doing my work for the sports fraternity at South Central Railway. Yes, there is a disappointment that the Karnataka government did not recognise my efforts beyond giving me the Kannada Rajyotsava award. I wanted to contribute to the Karnataka sports fraternity as well,” she says.

Shobha continued to work to improve sports administration at the South Central Railway. (Special Arrangement)

Shobha was again under the spotlight in 2021, 15 years after her performance at Athens. An official social media page of the Olympics had uploaded a video of Shobha with the caption “The Incredible Spirit of JJ Shobha”, which garnered nearly a million views.

Shobha says, “I had requested the Olympics to give me my videos of my performance several times, but they had never shared them. But when I woke up on 12 September, 2021, my friends and family members were flooding me with messages of the video. I felt good when I saw that, and I hope it inspires young women,” she says.

Shobha is married to Ajay Kumar, a field hockey player who is now a golfer, and continues to serve as the sports officer for the South Central Railway, encouraging and guiding the budding sportspersons of the railway. Another interesting feat is that Shobha, in 2004, in line with the Olympic qualification meet at Delhi, created a national record with scoring 6,211 points, which remains untouched to date.