The Gold Hunt - Track and Field

Anju George, that's it. Rest of them, if did extremely well, can come 6th or 7th. The long jumper, till date remains our biggest hope for a medal in Athens. She will be the flag bearer as well.

With out any doubt she is a rarety beacause Track and Field has never been India's forte but a Bronze in the Manchester Commonwealth Games, a Gold at the Busan Asiad and most importantly a Bronze in the World Championship in Paris has changed the history. All these can be put together to equal fifteen Sachin Tendulkar centuries. One medal at Athens will make it equal to thirty of them and a grand slam of atheletics will be complete.

But there are some problems. Although she has been hovering betwenn 4th and 5th rank this year, she has not been able to cross the 7 meters barrier till now. Her rivals have been doing that regularly, especially Tatyana Lebedeva. As of now, Gold seems to be out of reach as her personal best is only 6.74, though she also had a wind assisted jump of 6.82 at Doha classic. But Bronze is very much within her reach.

Only time will tell whether she jumps herself and India to glory or not.