Struggling Anju looks to leap back into form

Long jumper Anju Bobby George is among the few Indian athletes whose career has been unblemished, writes Ajai Masand.

Long jumper Anju Bobby George is among those few Indian athletes whose career has been unblemished.

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When she came to interact with the media at the International meeting zone — with husband Bobby George in tow — one knew she was not going to give any spicy quotes.

Anju knows defending the long jump gold medal she won in Busan in 2002 will not be easy. "I really want to win this one because I don't know whether I would be there on the Asian Games platform again," said the 29-year-old Anju.

After a brief pause, she added: "We can expect but we can't predict."

Anju has been the torch-bearer of the Indian athletics. But her not-so-impressive showing this year — where she started with a sixth place finish at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and gave a below-par performance in the Asian Grand Prix at Bangalore — gives the impression that her glorious years are behind her.

But she does see Doha as a venue to make a comeback. "It is possible because I have always peaked at the end of the season. I couldn't perform well at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games because that was just the start of the season. Then came the heel injury because of which my entire season went waste," said the athlete from Kerala.

Is the controversy about thrower Seema Antil reportedly testing positive for a steroid affecting Anju any way? "The only pressure on me is of being the defending champion," she said.

Anju is not new to Doha. She made it a happy hunting ground in 2004 when she bagged gold, but could not defend her title last year — finishing fourth.
But despite predicting anything, her sure-footedness said it all.

She is here to defend her title. And she won't care less about anything else.