New Delhi: As India is set to strike at the World Athletics Championship in Oregon, Anju Bobby George did it in 2003 in Paris. A long jumper from Kerala made India proud on the international stage several times. India has produced a few great performances in track and field, and the list will always include Anju’s jump in Paris.
Anju Bobby George’s sporting achievements include a bronze medal at Commonwealth Games (2002), a gold and a silver at Asian Games (2002, 2006), a gold and a silver at Asian Championships (2005, 2007), a gold medal at South Asian Games (2006), a bronze medal at World Athletics Championship (2003) and a gold medal at World Athletics Finals (2005). She won a silver at World Athletics Finals, but Tatyana Kotova of Russia was disqualified by IAAF, so Anju’s silver was turned into gold.
World Athletics Championship (2003)
In her first attempt at the Women’s Long Jump event, she hit a mark of 6.61 m, which was great but not enough for a medal. Her next two attempts were foul attempts as she crossed the jumping mark. After three attempts, France’s Eunice Barber and Russia’s Tatyana Kotova were leading with the best jump of 6.74 m. Anju was in the fourth position after three attempts. Now only three attempts were left as World Championship has a total of six attempts in the long jump.
In her fourth attempt, she executed a jump of 6.56 m and the standings remained the same. It was her fifth attempt that created history for India in athletics. She made a jump of 6.70 m and took third place in the standings. She jumped 6.62 m in her final attempt, which was remarkable, but her fifth attempt was enough to get her the bronze medal.
This was her season’s best jump which secured her a medal. To date, the bronze medal won by Anju Bobby George is the only medal in World Championships for India. The gold medal was won by Eunice Barber for her sixth attempt of 6.99 m and Tatyana Kotova won the silver for her jump of 6.74 m.
Anju made her personal best record of 6.83 m at the 2004 Athens Olympics. This is still the national record for Women’s Long Jump in India.
Awards
Anju Bobby George received the Arjuna Award in 2003. In 2004, she was awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (then known as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award). She received Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in 2004 itself.
In 2021, she was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by BBC and the Woman of the Year Award by World Athletics for her work in the field of uplifting and encouraging girls to take up athletics.
