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Foot injury has plagued Anju for long

K.P. Mohan

The injury in Beijing dates back to 2000

— Photo: AP

OUCH, IT HURTS! Anju Bobby George, who had a miserable outing at the Olympic Games, has revealed that she has competed with a nagging injury for some years now.

NEW DELHI: What was the injury that dashed Anju George’s chances of at least figuring in the final of the Olympic Games in Beijing? What prevented her from putting together one legal jump when the whole country was looking up to her to pull Indian athletics out of the mediocrity it had plunged into?

Ever since Anju came up with that shocker of three fouls in the qualifying round of the long jump competition in Beijing, there has been no clarity about the type of injury she had suffered.

This was an injury to her right foot; the metatarsals to be precise. The right is her take-off foot that she plants hard on the take-off board. (Metatarsals are the five long bones in the forefoot which connect the ankle bones to those of the toes.)

"This injury has been there since 2000, maybe even before that. She has won all her major titles with this problem," said Anju’s husband and coach Bobby George on Thursday.

Over the years they had consulted more than a dozen specialists without finding a solution, he said. (The best cure is four to eight weeks of rest).

Pain while jumping

Bobby George said that Anju felt the pain on July 25, a week after competing in the National jumps championship in Bangalore.

"The pain was coming and going; at first sprinting was not a problem, but jumping brought back the pain," he said.

Once into Beijing, when the problem persisted, Anju, after consultations with the athletics team’s doctor, Dr. Arun Mendiratta, sought medical advice at the polyclinic.

"A digital X-ray showed the extent of the damage," said Dr. Mendiratta on Thursday.

After consultations, a decision was taken to give a cortisone injection two days before the qualifying competition in a desperate bid to make her attempt a jump. A Chinese doctor administered the injection, a rather painful procedure.

An abbreviated therapeutic use exemption (ATUE) for the use of cortisone (a controlled drug under WADA regulations that required advance permission) was granted by the IOC Medical Commission ‘online’.

"It was done on the IOC doctor’s own initiative and I didn’t have to apply for it," said Dr. Mendiratta. "I was with them throughout the procedures," he added.

Fighting on

"It was a matter of one good jump, we had to take that risk," said Bobby George.

"I wasn’t going to give up without a fight. After having prepared for so many years, I wasn’t going to pull out without trying," said Anju on Wednesday.

She had jumped a National record of 6.83 to finish sixth in the last Olympics. She had won the World championship bronze in Paris in 2003, a silver in the 2005 World athletics final, a bronze in the Manchester Commonwealth Games and the gold in the 2002 Asian Games, apart from several other honours.

"The rhythm was lacking on the run-way," said Anju. "I twisted my foot little, unable to bear the pain on my second jump. I had to put everything into the last jump, but with my condition and the track being very fast, it was another foul," Anju said.

"I have never finished outside top 10 in a major championship. This was the first time I failed to make a final (outdoors) in a championship," said Anju.

"Anju was feeling the pain when she wore the spikes," said Bobby George as well as Dr Mendiratta.

"It was destined to end this way," said Anju, accepting the reality. "This is not the end of life," chipped in Bobby George. She had wept at the Bird’s Nest.

Spikes the problem?

"A ‘gait analysis’ (study of animal locomotion) early on would have diagnosed the problem and suggested remedial measures," said Dr. Bharat Inder Singh, a sports medicine specialist. Probably it could have been specially-made spikes.

"The degeneration of the metatarsals happens because of over-use or wrong shoes and spikes. A problem can also occur because of a sudden change of surfaces during training," said Dr. Singh.

Bobby George said that he had attempted to put Anju through a ‘gait analysis’ in Johannesburg in 2006, but could not do it for various reasons. (Manipal Hospital, Bangalore and the Christian Medical College, Vellore, among others, have facilities to conduct ‘gait analysis’)

He said that the injury might have originated in 1998, when she was triple-jumping. Or else it might have been aggravated at Nagercoil in 2000 when she suffered an injury on the mud runway.

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.

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