Anju George Thread (Athletics:Long Jump)

[jaydeep]

Anju Bobby George's season started with silver medal at the Asian Indoors Athletics Championship in Doha.

Anju started with a modest distance of 6.01m but she jumped to 6.33m in the second attempt ... Adding 3cm in the third attempt, Anju's fifth jump was 6.38m but Chinese Chen Yaling won the contest with 6.39m.

Jaydeep.

[shibi]

Anju could manage only 6.55m to finish fifth at the Super Grand Prix event in Doha on Friday. Tatiyana Kotova of Russia won the gold at 6.83m, Kazakhstan's Olga Rypakova won the silver at 6.75m & Chelsea Hammond of Jamaica won the bronze at 6.69m.

Hope Anju will be able to put up a better performance in the coming days.

[jayakris]

I think even 6.55 is a bit better than she has been doing lately ... Jay

[mugu]

It is definitely better, especially for May, only her second outdoor competition this season. She sounded confident, too in the report below, though it is too early to say whether she has any chance at all of coming up to 6.90-6.95 (if not 7.00) that would be required to win a medal in Beijing.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/11/stories ... 281900.htm

[PKBasu]

Yes, 6.55m is a good leap at this stage of the season, especially since she only had two jumps (and fouled the other two). Apparently, she thought she would have a fifth and sixth attempt (as is customary) but this was an abridged competition.

If Anju can peak in time for the Olympics, getting to 6.7 next month and closer to 6.9 by the time August comes around, she could yet be a medal contender.

[jayakris]

The latest from Anju.  Nothing much to talk about.  6.47 m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, U.S., on Sunday.  Tough field of 8 and Anju finished 7th.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/10/stories ... 452000.htm

Jay

[mugu]

A little disappointing, but looking at the overall results with Lebedeva and Kotova also not in any great form, this isn't all that bad. A medal in Beijing has, however, started receding unless Anju goes into the competition with at least a 6.85 behind her, either at Madurai or in the Asian GP meets.
American Britney Reese (6.93) and Maggi (6.91) look strong this season, though they don't have the big-stage temperament like the Russians have. Lebedeva may not compete, as the report suggests.
Jimoh also has a 6.91 this season, but she is raw; anything can happen.

[shashi]

Anju should really be concentrating abt her own performances rather than talk abt past heroes like P.T Usha .Its not abt whether Usha was a world class athlete or not.Her performance of 4 gold medals in the Seoul Asiad out of 6 (maybe) Indian gold medals is simply remarkable.Lets see if Anju even comes close to Usha's performance at LA olympics where she missed the bronze by 1/100th of a second.

[kujo]

From the same Hindu article.

Because of bereavement in the family, Anju had to miss training after Doha.

[jaydeep]

In the last leg of of the Asian Grand Prix series at Hanoi, Anju equalled her best performance for the season with a 6.55-mtrs jump to win gold medal ... Hopefully she is peaking at right time for Olympics.

Jaydeep

[PKBasu]

Looking reasonably good. I would prefer her to be jumping 6.7-plus at this stage, but 6.55 is not too bad. The other jumpers might struggle at the height of a Chinese summer, while the weather should be ideal for the Indian athletes (although Guangzhou would have been even better...). Anju is still looking like a contender at least for the final.

[sameerph]

This is from Anju on her non performance in olympics -

No one knows the pain I underwent: Anju

[mugu]

Worth taking a look at this also, which appeared two days ago:
http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/29/stories ... 281900.htm

[jayakris]

Anju also said while people are free to raise questions, they must also take into account that she has made sacrifices along the way. “Only once did I take a grant from National Sports Development Fund. That was in 2003 and the amount was Rs 13lakh. This can be verified. The government and sports ministry have been willing to help me but I don’t want anyone to have an impression that I have wasted government money. Whenever, I have gone abroad and participated in international events I have got funds from my sponsors and have also spent money from my pocket,” she added.

Well, this is crazy, Anju. What were you doing for TEN years with that injury?? If your foot has been hurting, you should have done something. If you did not use facilities in India or spend money somewhere else, YOU are at fault. Some of us remember your complaining of the foot earlier too - though you never mentioned it was a chronic thing, but instead something or other was given as a temporary excuse (stuff like hitting a loose board at Kantheerava stadium etc come to mind, IIRC) ..

Then Bobby says he wanted to put you through tests in RSA but didn't. Either tell us why, or just stop talking about these kinds of details which only squarely bring the blame back to you, especially when you didn't say anything then. It is like running away from Powell and then saying 3 years later that you could not adjust to his training regime - which makes everybody look at you in poorer light only.

I would rather that you "wasted" some government money. Lord knows everybody in India wastes money. The only world top-5 athlete from India in the last decade, was the one we would have liked to waste some money! .. To hear that you have had sponsors (we had seen about the builder from the Gulf etc), but still did not do what was necessary for your foot is just frustrating.

I am sorry, it is once again the unacceptable talk from Anju's side. Putting her foot in the mouth and saying something that makes no sense. All through her career, it has been like this. She is/was a great athlete but basically did not get to the levels she could have got to, for reasons I cannot blame anybody but her and her husband. It is one thing after another in her career, where she seems to NOT have sought or taken better advice, and have gone with some decisions she and her husband made, only revealing it much later. Worse still, none of their decisions ever seem to have been right either.

I give it to Anju and Bobby for not whining and blaming others or the government. They have rarely done that. Sometimes I wish they had done that. But it is like they did not want to draw attention to any issues, and wanted to make decisions on their own - without being tied down by obligations or something. That is fine if you were making the right calls, but that was not the case either. What a messy career, from a wonderful athlete.

This is all just based on what I have seen in the press and whatever is reported to have been said by Anju and Bobby over the years - so I could be wrong.

Milkha Singh should shut up too - and I feel bad for Anju to have heard the kind of things that he said. He acts like he is some God. Asking for an "investigation" on Anju was too much even from that guy. What has this guy done all his life other than to sit and whine about something or other (most of the time about sombody or other)? Whom has he really helped?

Jay

[jaydeep]

From article -
Bobby George said that the heavy training load this year might have caused the pain to recur.

"We couldn’t get an Olympic medal, but when we look back we are satisfied with whatever Anju has achieved," said Bobby George.

Well written Jay, agree with ur views ... But I really didn't like Bobby George's sour grapes.