Bobby Aloysius (born 22 June 1974) is an Indian athlete from Kerala, who competes in the high jump event. Currently, she is residing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. She held the Indian and South Asian records in high jump between 1995 and 2012 of 1.91m.[1] Bobby participated in the 2004 Athens Olympics,[2] won silver in 2002 Busan Asian Games and won gold in the Jakarta Asian Championships.[3]
 The President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presenting the Dhyan Chand Award, 2018 to Bobby Aloysius | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Indian | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | June 22, 1974 Chemperi, Kannur, Kerala, India | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country |  India | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Personal life
editBobby was born in Chemperi, Kannur, Kerala, India.[4] Bobby travelled around the world several times and eventually lived in Shrewsbury, United Kingdom until 2009. She had also worked as the Assistant Secretary (Technical) of Kerala State Sports Council in Thiruvananthapuram till 2013. She is married to Shajan Skariah, who is the founder and chief newsreader of an online channel named Marunadan TV. They have three children, Stefan Holm Skariah, Gangotri Skariah and Ritwik Skariah. She is an alumnus of Calicut University.[5]
Career
editBobby established the national record of 1.91m in women's high jump during the Olympic qualifications in 2004 in Chennai.[6] “I badly wanted to qualify for the Olympics and I put everything into that jump in Chennai and cleared 1.91m," she said in an interview at the Maharaja's Stadium in 2011.[7] Her national record remained unbeaten till 2012, when Sahana Kumari cleared 1.92 m for the London Olympics.[8] Bobby also won the women's High Jump event at the National Domestic Circuit Meet held in 2003 in Chennai, in addition to her international wins.[9]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representing India
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| 2000 | Asian Championships | Jakarta, Indonesia | 1st | 1.83 m |
| 2002 | Commonwealth Games | Manchester, United Kingdom | 4th | 1.87 m |
| Asian Championships | Colombo, Sri Lanka | 2nd | 1.84 m | |
| Asian Games | Busan, South Korea | 2nd | 1.88 m | |
| 2003 | Asian Championships | Manila, Philippines | 4th | 1.80 m |
| Afro-Asian Games | Hyderabad, India | 2nd | 1.88 m | |
| 2004 | Asian Indoor Championships | Tehran, Iran | 2nd | 1.81 m |
| Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 28th (q) | 1.85 m | |
Bobby has also worked with the Kerala state government to improve sports development in her state. Serving as the Assistant Secretary (Technical) of Kerala State Sports Council, Bobby organised the Sports Council's High Jump Carnival, held at Thiruvananthapuram with the athletes performing to heavy music in 2011.[10] She aimed to implement the higher secondary sports quota online allotment scheme during her service. In 2013, she submitted her resignation letter to KSSC as she claimed that they had denied her the opportunity to get appointed to the National Games Office by holding back the order.[11]
Awards
editAfter applying for the Dhyan Chand Award multiple times and losing the chance to receive it, Bobby was finally awarded with it in 2018.[12] She was presented the award on 25 September by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhawan.[13] In one of her interviews, she said "I'm lucky to win it this time. I've been applying for this honour ever since Dhyan Chand Award was instituted in 2002.The honour will motivate me to take coaching seriously. After Nayana James left me after just one year of training under me, I stopped coaching. Now, I am planning to make a comeback to serious coaching."[14]
References
edit- ^ "It's Bobby Aloysius' day". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 4 June 2002. Archived from the original on 27 October 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ^ "The Olympics: 2004: Athletics: Newi student falls short in heats". Daily Post (Liverpool, England). 27 August 2004. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ^ Mohan, K. P. (30 August 2000). "Bobby Aloysius scales to a surprise gold". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ^ "Bobby's Flop show is a big hit". The Indian Express. 22 July 1998. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ^ "Department of Physical Education". University of Calicut. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ^ "The wait is over for Bobby - Times of India". The Times of India. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ Rayan, Stan (9 December 2011). "Sport should be fun, says Bobby Aloysius". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ "Sahana Kumari qualifies for London Olympics". The Times of India. 23 June 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ "ATHLETICS: Kerala's Bobby Aloysius Who won the women's High Jump event at the National Domestic... | The Hindu Images". thehinduimages.com. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ Rayan, Stan (9 December 2011). "Sport should be fun, says Bobby Aloysius". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ Tam, Kenneth; Hoz Salvador, Martin; McAlpine, Ken; Basile, Rick; Matsugu, Bruce; More, Josh (2013), "Extended UTM Functionality", UTM Security with Fortinet, Elsevier, pp. 249–305, doi:10.1016/b978-1-59-749747-3.00007-7, ISBN 9781597497473
- ^ "Virat Kohli, Mirabai Chanu to receive Khel Ratna on September 25: Sports Ministry". Deccan Chronicle. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Bobby Aloysius receives the Dhyan Chand Award 2018 for her..." Getty Images. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ "The wait is over for Bobby - Times of India". The Times of India. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
