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Champions don't make a fuss, not when they win, not when they lose.

``Say sorry to everybody'', she said. No, we won't Anju. No we won't. Anju Bobby George owes India no apologies.

On a night of magic but not quite miracles, Anju broke her own Indian long jump record by a massive nine cm, jumped to 6.83 m and to sixth place in the Olympic Games here on Friday. It wasn't enough to get her a medal, the top honour going to Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia (7.07 m).

Yet at the end of the emotionally draining, psychologically sapping six-attempt contest, you wanted to drape the national flag around Anju _ our Anju. She had competed with the world's best, crossed a distance that was way greater than the 6.71 m she jumped to win the bronze at the World Championship in 2003.

She also did what few Indian athletes do, especially after setting a new national mark. She refused to look satisfied. In fact, Anju looked positively upset after her fourth and fifth jumps (6.68 m and 6.61 m). It was not the face of a defeated woman _ it was the look of a fighter who knew she’d been beaten; this time. ``My fourth and fifth jumps'', she explained, ``are usually my best. I don't know what happened today.''

The women's javelin and men's pole vault, the men's 100m relay here and the women's 10,000m race there. The second last evening of track and field competition at the Olympic Stadium was a busy, breathtaking, ``blink and you spot the star'' phenomenon.

Amid cheering crowds _ cheering mostly for the Greek relay teams or track athletes _ the long jumpers had to shut themselves out from the commentators, the spectators, the blinding lights and, in Anju's case, the pressure of a billion hopes. They had to focus on that one narrow pit, that thin red line they couldn't breach.

They coped in different ways. Russia's Irina Simagina, who won the silver, was almost panther-like in her initial posture. Lebedeva began her move hands flailing, almost throwing karate chops to her right and left. Sweden's blonde bombshell Carolina Kluft _ who'd won the heptathlon gold a few evenings ago _ shouted at herself, clapped her hands above her, then thrashed them down to slap her thighs _ and just flew.

Anju was not demonstrative, just prim and taut, almost as if it were so matter of fact. Even after that final jump was called a foul _ she had crossed the red line by a micro-metre _ there were no hysterics, no histrionics. Champions don't make a fuss, not when they win, not when they lose.

It was a crazy night for Indian sport, really, and a particularly satisfying one for its women. With K M Beenamol running an excellent second leg and Manjeet Kaur _ ``the Flying Sikhni'', as someone labelled her _ coming up with a ferocious anchor run, the Indian 4x400 m relay team entered the final, third in its heat, in sixth place overall.

The quartet's timing, 3 minutes, 26.89 seconds, was three seconds off first qualifier Russia _ but it too was a new Indian record.

It was drama every minute at the Olympic Stadium. Maurice Greene took the United States to a rasping 38.02 second finish in the 4x100 m relay qualifiers. Liu Xiang came from nowhere to equal the 110 m hurdles Olympic record and give China yet another gold medal.

For the handful of Indians spectators at the stadium, all this may not have happened at all. The Sprinting Sorority and the Lady of the Leap made their night.

Thank you ladies, thank you Anju. Whatever happens, India will always love you.

Source: Newindpress.com - Olympics 2004

Anju we always love you!