Sporting legends MC Mary Kom and Anju Bobby George bared their deepest emotions when speaking about different challenges that come along with motherhood for athletes when speaking in the session titled Celebrating Women’s Empowerment: Motherhood and Sports on the second day of Trailblazers 2.0, India’s biggest sports conclave hosted by RevSportz in Kolkata.
Winner of the 2012 Olympic Games bronze medal and multiple boxing World Championships titles, Mary Kom said it would not be easy to explain or express what she went through as an athlete as a mother. “However, with a hunger to do well, we can do anything,” she said. “Only mothers can do all the things we do.”
She also spoke about the time she was training in NIS Patiala and her three-year-old son was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition. “I sensed something was wrong in Imphal but my husband (Onler) told me that all was well,” she recalled. “However when I insisted, my mother-in-law revealed the truth. It was tough to train for an international event in such circumstances.”
India’s first World Athletics Championships medalist Anju Bobby George spoke of the time she discovered that she was born with one kidney. “I was putting on weight and finding recovery was taking longer. With just a few weeks left for the World Championships in Paris, a German doctor found out that I had a health issue,” she said.
“The doctor told me that I needed to return to India, rest for six months when undergoing treatment. But with great support from my husband Bobby George, I returned to training with short jogs and found that that I jumped at the same level. I went on to win the bronze medal at the World Championships.”
Dr Rohit Gutgutia, one of Kolkata’s top fertility specialists, said it was important to start talking about women’s issues openly. “It is critical that everyone is aware of reproductive and other health conditions and consequences,” he said. “It was a learning experience to hear the star athletes talk about child bearing and child rearing.”
Bharat Serums and Vaccines Managing Director and CEO Sanjiv Navrangul spoke on the need for India to encourage more women to contribute to the National Gross Domestic Product. “Sport is setting a great example with female athletes winning nearly 50 per cent of the medals secured by India in the last Asian Games,” he said.