Beijing: 

Confidence injured: India's Anju Bobby George during the women's long jump qualification round at the Bird's Nest National Stadium yesterday. Anju flopped on all three attempts. pic/AFP

Some of India's leading sportspersons want to be seen at the Olympic Games even at the cost of their health.

India long jumper Anju Bobby George admitted that it was always going to be difficult to jump given that she had hurt herself during training, minutes before the qualification kicked off at the Bird's Nest Stadium yesterday.
Poor run

Why then, did she not think of avoiding the qualification jumps at all, instead of failing to jump on all three attempts. "It's the Olympics, no? How could I have missed it?" reasoned the seasoned long-jumper whose poor run of form has seen her jump a season's best of 6.55 meters this year as against the qualification mark for the long jump final of 6.59 meters here.

Illness had also affected her performance in the 2004 Athens Games where she finished sixth.

But yesterday morning, the 31-year-old Arjuna awardee was clueless as to how she hurt herself.

"I don't know how it happened," she told reporters after all her three jumps resulted in disqualifications.

"I twisted my ankle this morning during the trial jumps and the bone compartments (around the ankle area) began hurting me very badly. Since it was on my right foot, which is my take off foot, I just couldn't manage to jump thereafter," she added.