Anju Bobby George

New Delhi: Star long jumper Anju Bobby George’s career-best performance in the Athens Olympics pushed her to fifth position in the latest world rankings released by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Anju, who erased her national mark by nine centimetres leaping to 6.83m, got 180 points for her sixth place in Athens to move up with 1247 points from her sixth position in the last list.

Olympic champion Tatyana Lebedeva of Russia took over as the new world No. 1 dethroning compatriot Tatyana Kotova, bronze winner, who slipped to the second place.

The third Russian on the podium in Athens, silver medal winner Irina Simagina retained her third place while Australian Bronwyn Thompson, who finished fourth, jumped up three spots to No. 6.

The top 10

1. Tatyana lebedeva (Rus) 1374 pts; 2. Tatyana Kotova (Rus) 1341; 3. Irina Simagina (Rus) 1303; 4. Marion Jones (US) 1278; 5. Anju Bobby George (Ind) 1247; 6. Bronwyn Thompson (Aus) 1245; 7. Grace Upshaw (US) 1231; 8. Carolina Kluft (Swe) 1217; 9. Jade Johnson (GBR) 1212; 10. Valentina Gotovska (Lat) 1206.

Award for jumper

Meanwhile, a report from Thiruvananthapuram adds that Anju has been chosen for this year’s Jimmy George Foundation award for excellence in sports.

The award, carrying a cash prize of Rs 10,000, a memento and citation, would be presented to the long jumper at a function to be held at Peravoor in Kannur district, he said