While a steady stream of Indian athletes have checked into the Games Village in Beijing, long-jumper Anju Bobby George and her coach-cum-husband Robert Bobby will stay.
The long-jumper hopes that 6.60m-6.65m jump is good enough to qualify for the final
MUMBAI: While a steady stream of Indian athletes have checked into the Games Village in Beijing, long-jumper Anju Bobby George and her coach-cum-husband Robert Bobby will stay put in Bangalore, their training base, for a while. Anju is set to reach Beijing only over the weekend. She could even miss the opening ceremony and the ceremonial march-past.
However, the decision to train in Bangalore has a lot to do with the hot and humid weather conditions athletes are expected to encounter at the venue; something Robert believes can upset Anju’s rhythm and training schedule.
In August last year, Anju participated in the World championships at Osaka, an event in which she finished ninth. The humidity was hovering around 80 per cent and the temperature was about 40 degree centigrade. The long jump event was in the morning and Anju found it difficult to give her best in heat and humidity. It doesn’t help that she sometimes suffers from mild asthma.
In Beijing too the first round of qualifying for the women’s long jump is scheduled for 10.30 am on August 19. “We don’t want to go to Beijing too early as it could disrupt Anju’s rhythm. But we believe that Beijing could be like Osaka, so we have to be prepared to deal with the heat and humidity,” Robert Bobby told DNA.
“In Athens too, we reached the venue almost 25 days before the event and it got a bit tiring waiting for the big day. We don’t want to make that mistake again,” he added.
Anju was initially preparing to fly to Stockholm and participate in another event in Europe before the Beijing Games, but decided against it as she could lose up to four days in travel. It seemed more sensible for Anju to stick to her training schedule in Bangalore, a place where she felt comfortable.
Now, Anju is hoping to jump at least 6.60 metres in qualifying, which the husband-wife team believe should be good enough to get into the final of the Beijing Olympics. “If Anju qualifies early for the final; say in the first jump, then she will be relieved and will have time to prepare herself for the final,” Robert Bobby added.
Anju and Robert Bobby said in one voice that they want to make these Games, the most memorable of their lifetime, and one that the billion people in this country will remember for a long time. In Athens, Anju jumped 6.83 metres to create a National record, but it was good enough only for a fifth place. “This season there are only two jumps over seven metres, so while Anju hasn’t cleared 6.55m in competition this season, she is in with a chance,” Robert added.
However, Anju will have to compete against four consistent jumpers - Nadia Gomes (Portugal), Tatyana Kotova (Russia), Tatyana Lebedeva (Russia) and Maurren Higa Maggi of the United States.
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