Her 100 metres sprint record could not be emulated for as long as 14 years! In 1975 she was the first woman sportsperson from Tamil Nadu to win the prestigious Arjuna Award for outstanding sports personalities in India. At the international level, her best performance in terms of serious competitions was at a meet in neighbouring Pakistan where she bagged four gold medals.
Yes, these references are about Anusuya Bai, one of India’s yesteryear star female athletes hailing from Chennai where she grew up, though she had her roots in Andhra Pradesh.
A multi-event athlete, Anusuya’s tryst with sport began rather informally as she used to run races with friends at Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar Higher Secondary School at Ambattur area in the city. Even now she lives in Ambattur. Later, at Ethiraj College, Anusuya entered official competitions, but without a formal coach. However, things changed for her in 1971 at the All India Inter University Championship in Jaipur. Not counted among the possible winners, Anusuya surprised, or rather “shocked” the then team coach Beulah Moses by bagging gold in the 400 metres run and shot put. Such specialization in more than one or two events was, indeed, rare in those days. Then came Anusuya’s successful bow on track and field internationally.
In the 1973 Summer Universiade competition in Moscow, Anusuya represented India in sprint events and the discus throw. She sprang a surprise on everyone by setting a new inter-university record albeit finishing 16th.
Cut to 1976: at an athletics meet in Pakistan, Anusuya won four gold medals. In 1977 she competed in the IAAF World Cup held at Dusseldorf city in the then West Germany, but she did not bring home any medal. She was the only woman athlete to represent India in that team.
Anusuya, as an athlete, was significant because she made her bow at a time when women athletes in this mother of all sports had limited infrastructure and support. Her bold performances on track and field were a strong pointer to the fact that women athletes from Tamil Nadu had the talent to compete at the national and Asian levels, at least. Resilience and confidence were the two strong points of her talent. She is remembered not just for medals or records, but for the fact that she paved the way, as it were, for a new generation of women athletes not just from Chennai or other parts of Tamil Nadu, but from the country too.
Even as she was etching for herself a pioneering career as an athlete, Anusuya also built an illustrious and long 40-year-long career with Southern Railway, rising to the position of Deputy Chief Personnel Officer. She retired from Southern Railway headquartered at Chennai, next to the Chennai Central Railway Station, on August 30, 2013.