Anju Bobby George

Anju Bobby George (born 19 April 1977) is an Indian former athlete. She made history when she won the bronze medal in long jump at the 2003 World Championships in Paris. With this achievement, she became the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships jumping 6.70 metres (22.0 ft).^[1] She went on to win the gold medal at the World Athletics Final in 2005, a performance she considers her best.

Anju Bobby George

Anju Boby George in 2006
Personal information
Birth name	Anju Markose
Born	(1977-04-19) 19 April 1977 (age 48) Changanassery, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
Country	India
Sport	Athletics
Events	Long jump Triple jump
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	Long jump: 6.83 m (Athens, 2004) NR Triple jump: 13.67 (Hyderabad, 2002)
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Championships 0 0 1 World Athletics Final 1 0 0 Asian Games 1 1 0 Commonwealth Games 0 0 1 Asian Championships 1 1 0 South Asian Games 1 0 0 Total 4 2 2 World Championships 2003 Paris Long jump World Athletics Final 2005 Monte Carlo Long jump Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester Long jump Asian Games 2002 Busan Long jump 2006 Doha Long jump Asian Championships 2005 Incheon Long jump 2007 Amman Long jump South Asian Games 2006 Colombo Long jump
Updated on 30 July 2013

Anju was upgraded to the gold status from silver in the 2005 World Athletics Final in Monte Carlo following the disqualification of Tatyana Kotova of Russia by the International Association of Athletics Federations, after the re-testing of the latter's sample collected at the 2005 World Championship in Helsinki.^[2] She was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2002, Khel Ratna in 2003 and Padma Shri in 2004.^[3] She finished 5th position with a personal best of 6.83 metres (22.4 ft) at the 2004 Olympics. In March 2021, she won the BBC lifetime achievement award for best athlete in India.^[4] She is the current chairperson of Athletics Federation of India (AFI).^[5]

Early life

Anju was born into the Kochuparambil family in the village of Cheeranchira near Changanassery town, Kottayam, Kerala to Syrian Orthodox Christian K. T. Markose. ^[6]

Professional career

Anju made history when she won the bronze medal clearing 6.70 m in Long Jump at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris, becoming the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal in a World Championships in Athletics. She also won a gold medal at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games. She achieved her personal best of 6.83 m at the 2004 Olympic Games at Athens which brought her the fifth position. This is the current Indian national record.^[3]

She received the Arjuna award in 2002–2003 for eminent sportspersons from the government of India and the country's highest sporting honour, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2003–2004 after her success in the World Athletic meet. She was conferred Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award in 2004.^[7]

Anju Bobby George pulled out of the 52nd national inter-state athletics in Hyderabad, due to an upper respiratory tract infection.^[8]

Personal life

Anju is married to Robert Bobby George, who is a former national champion in triple jump and her former coach. She is employed with the Customs department in Bangalore. The couple has a son Aaron and a daughter Andrea.^[9]

Sports associations

Anju was appointed as president of the Kerala State Sports Council (KSSC).^[10] She resigned from the post on 22 June 2016.^[11] She is the vice president of the Athletics Federation of India.

See also

• India at the 2008 Summer Olympics
• List of Indian records in athletics
• List of Indian sportswomen
• List of Kerala Olympians