Anju will carry national flag after Malleswari says no

New Delhi: Long jumper Anju Bobby George will carry the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympic Games, beginning August 13, Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi announced here Friday.

Anju is the first Indian to win a bronze medal at the world athletics meet in Paris and considered the brightest medal prospect for the country in Athens. Tennis star Leander Paes, the winner of bronze medal in Atlanta (1996), was India’s flag-bearer in Sydney in 2000.

India is sending a 75-strong contingent to the four-yearly Games.

Olympic bronze medallist Karnam Malleswari said later in the day that she had “opted out” of the race to become the flag-bearer because she did not want her performance to get affected. “I was asked, but I opted out of it,” Malleswari said. “A flag-bearer needs to reach early and stand for hours. Such an exercise could have harmed my legs and my performance,” the Andhra lifter, India’s lone medal winner in the Sydney Olympics, said. Though her event is on August 18, she said: “A couple of days would not have been enough for any kind of recovery.”

Malleswari, who won the bronze in the 69kg in Sydney, has reduced her body weight to brighten her chances and will contest in the 63kg category. “It is a well thought out decision and I feel I have better a chance in the lower weight category,” she said justifying her decision to change the weight category,

“I am feeling absolutely fit and strong and have fully recovered from any kind of injuries (suffered in Belarus during training),” she said. “It is more important for me to climb the podium than to carry the flag.”

Meanwhile, in Bangalore, heptathlete Pramila Aiyappa (nee Ganapathy), missed the A category qualification for the Games by three points. The qualification standard is 6050 points. Pramila was trying out at the national combined events meet in Bangalore Friday, adds another report.

A poor peformance in her pet event, the long jump, spoilt her chances. In long jump, she managed only a poor 6.08 m, against her personal best of 6.56 m. The effort gave her 874 points but she could have collected 100 more if she had put in a better performance at the Sri Kanteerava Stadium. Pramila’s two other attempts were ruled foul. After the four events 100 m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 m Thursday, she had tallied 3,512 points, needing another 2,538 points from long jump, javelin throw and 800 m on Friday.

In javelin, Pramila secured 716 points after an effort of 42.51 m. Tension mounted as she required 948 points from the 800m race. She stopped the clock in two minutes, 11.38 seconds which gave her only 945 points, ending three points outside the mark.

Bengal’s Susmita Singh Roy finished way behind with 4012 points, while Karnataka’s Sahana Kumari was third (3631). Bengal’s Soma Biswas remains the only heptathlete to have qualified in the A category. The other heptathlete in the squad, JJ Sobha, has made it in the B category.