Beads, ribbons, lipstick and full makeup; Asian Games silver medalist Ancy Sojan responds to cyber attack

TOKYO: Ancy Sojan, the Thrissur native who soared to secure a silver in the long jump at the Asian Games, broke her silence about the cyber-attack on her. Ancy wearing beads, ribbons, lipstick and full makeup while competing in presumed to have invited the jibes. Ancy said the criticism breached the boundaries of decency, and stated that those associated with sports would never come forward with such jibes.

“I saw a comment claiming that a medal was lost by a margin of two centimetres due to 'showing off.' The person who dropped this comment thinks he is an Olympic medalist. These attacks come from fake accounts; they lack the courage to speak their minds using their own profiles. They do not even know which specific event I won the medal in. This sort of thing would never happen in any other country. True patriots would not insult a national medalist. Many international athletes compete while wearing necklaces, yet these critics lack even that basic awareness. It is just because the competitor is a woman that they find the thrill in picking up fault with hair or nails.

I broke Anju Bobby George’s record while wearing a necklace. It is part of my confidence. I used to enjoy the tingle from the bangles while running. I had cut my hair for competitions in the past, but I have no interest in doing that now—many young athletes do this these days. And don’t ever think that the cyber-attacks would kill my confidence,” said Ancy Sojan.