I envy today's athletes because I was in wrong era: Anju Bobby George
Shaili Singh, 19, jumped 6.76m -- the second longest distance by an Indian woman in April, behind Anju Bobby George's record mark of 6.83m, which has stood for 19 years.
'Believe it or not, I'm one of the fortunate, among very few who reached the world top with a single KIDNEY, allergic with even a painkiller, with a dead takeoff leg.. Many limitations. still made it. Can we call it magic of a coach or his talent.'
World Athletics added that her efforts in advancing the sport in India as well as inspiring more women to follow in her footsteps make her "more than a worthy recipient" of this year's award.
According to reports, Anju (finished 5th) along with fellow long jumpers, Australia's Bronwyn Thompson (4th) and England's Jade Johnson (6th), have urged a probe into the long jump event at the Athens Olympics. The trio has alleged that the performance of the Russians - Tatyana Lebedeva, Irina Meleshina and Tatyana Kotova - who were on the podium at Athens 2004, - were not clean as they had been banned later for failing dope tests.
Shaili Singh announced her arrival on the big stage by winning a silver in the Under-20 World Athletics Championships, missing out on a historic gold by a mere 1 cm with a 6.59m effort, in the long jump final in Nairobi on Sunday.
Mubassina Mohammed won the long jump gold at the fifth Indian Open Jumps Competition held at the Anju Bobby George Foundation Campus.
The national record in the men's 100m race was broken twice within minutes at the National Senior Athletics Federation Competition. Ancy Sojan won the women's long jump with a meet record, and Seema achieved the Commonwealth Games qualification mark in the women's discus throw.
The National Senior Athletics Federation Competition witnessed a national record being broken twice in the men's 100m race, along with other impressive performances in long jump and 10,000m races.
She covered 6.40 metres in the long jump event at the World Indoor athletics.
Anju Bobby George opened her European season by finishing fourth in the Norwich Union British Grand Prix
Ace Indian long jumper Anju Bobby George's season got off to a fine start as she clinched a silver medal at the Asian Indoors Athletics Championship in Doha on Thursday.
Anju Bobby George and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore were awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna award respectively.
Anju, who made her Grand Prix debut at the Peroni Golden Gala meet in Rome last week, touched a distance of 6.54 metres on Saturday night
Murali Sreeshankar won the men's long jump at the Indian Athletics Series, marking a successful return after knee surgery. Other winners included Ancy Sojan in the women's long jump, Reagan Ganesh in pole vault, and Tamil Arasu in the 100m sprint.
A star-studded field, including national record holders, will compete at the Indian Athletics Series 3 in New Delhi, motivated by the new Mondo track at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Husband and coach Bobby George said Anju can smash the seven metre barrier as early as next month in the Afro-Asian Games.
The one-day meet on May 26 would be held at the Late Baburao Sanas Sports Complex in Pune.
The President said her World Athletics bronze medal will encourage more athletes to dream of similar feats.
The world number seven long jumper plans to compete in 10-12 events in her build up to the Athens Olympics in August.
Sobha Developers, a Dubai-based real estate company, will fund the ace Indian long junper's training ahead of the Athens Olympics.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will conduct SRY Gene Tests in national-level competitions to ensure fair competition in the women's category. They will also conduct DNA testing of upcoming athletes for research and development purposes.
Anju is in Pune to take part in the long jump competition of the third and final leg of the Asian Grand Prix circuit to be held on Friday.
Two-time Olympic medalist P V Sindhu and World Athletics Championship bronze medalist Anju Bobby George visited the Ahmedabad Military and Rifle Training Association range in Khanpur/
The 26-year-old said Athens would be her next target and would put all her effort to break the Olympic medal jinx of India.
The World Athletics Championships bronze medallist said she needs to make some minor adjustments.
The ace Indian long jumper was robbed of all her valuables, including her passport, while training.
The top ranking also ensured Anju an automatic place in the World Athletics Final in Monaco.
The National Senior Federation Competition scheduled to be held in Ranchi from May 22 to 25 will serve as the final selection event for the country's track and field athletes for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games starting July 23.
Anju tops the list of women's long jumpers while the US-based Gowda is the top-ranked men's discus thrower.
Anju set a new meet mark of 6.53 metres at the 46th National Senior Inter-State Athletics championships.
India's ace long jumper could only clear 6.42 meters but made it to Friday's final at the Commonwealth Games.
Despite a poor showing at the Commonwealth Games, the ace Indian long jumper climbed a notch in the IAAF rankings.
The leading sportspersons arrived in Hyderabad to add some much-needed glamour to the Afro-Asian Games.
The Indian lung jump ace slid a place to No. 5 in the latest IAAF rankings.
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