The Hindu : Sport : Anju to concentrate on foreign meets

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Sunday, Sep 05, 2004

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Sport - Sports : General

Anju to concentrate on foreign meets

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, SEPT. 4. "I thank all Indians for their support and prayers," said India's star long jumper Anju Bobby George on her return from Athens here on Saturday.

"The field was very strong. Even the eighth-place finisher at Olympics has a 6.70m plus effort under her belt, while the top three have been doing 7.0 metre plus consistently. Yet, I was confident of winning a medal. But after the first jump in the final my body failed to respond to the demands," said Anju, who struggled hard to hide her disappointment.

Anju had leapt to 6.83m, her personal best, at Athens. But she finished sixth, much to the disappointment of Indians.

"In every respect it was a class field with Marion Jones too achieving 7.11 metres in the US Olympic trials," Anju said.

What next? And Anju was quick to answer. "After a short break, I will participate in the Golden League, the Grand Prix final (dates not finalised) and the Asian All Star at Singapore (end of this month). I will resume my training soon."

Praising Major Rathore for winning the silver medal, Anju said: "Rathore's feat did motivate us. Sadly, we could not carry on from that. In archery, shooting and tennis, medals slipped from us. In hockey, umpiring decisions affected India at least in two matches," she added.

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