One of India's brightest prospects for a medal at the Athens Olympics next year, long-jumper Anju B George will leave for California on Wednesday to train under the watchful eyes of world record holder Mike Powell.
Talking to PTI from Bangalore, the 25-year-old Kerala-born girl, employed with Chennai Customs, said she has set her sights on a medal at the 2004 Olympics.
"Being the best in Asia, I think it is time that I competed in more world championships. Once before, I had trained under Mike Powell. I am confident that my performance will improve well in time to clinch a medal for India in the Olympics [in Athens]," the Asian Games champion said.
Listing out her plans for the future, Anju's husband and coach, Bobby George, said: "We had planned our tour to the US in January but sponsorship confirmation and other relevant matters delayed our trip. I understand Mike was already training people for various world level events.
"It will be a training-cum-competition tour. We will be finalising the schedule on April 24 with Mike (Powell). Anju will be competing in the outdoor World championship in Paris in August," Bobby said.
Anju, who bid goodbye to the triple jump after leaping to new distance of 13.67 metres in the National Games in Hyderabad in December last year, had said she was retiring from the triple jump to concentrate on sprints in order improve her long jump performance.
The 1.76 metre tall athlete is ranked 13th in the world presently and was ranked seventh in the World Indoor championship in Birmingham, where she covered 6.40 metres.
Bobby George is was confident Anju will improve her performance to the extent of being among the top three ranked jumpers in the world before the Athens Olympics.
"She has the world class credentials and feels she could win an Olympic medal for India," he said.
"I am aware of the hard work that is needed for securing a medal at Athens. I was to start my preparation towards achieving this goal from February but it is better late than never. I still have another 17 months to make steady progress in making my dream come true," Anju said.
Anju, who would be training with Powell at the California University for six months initially, said: "I derive encouragement from fans in India, the Union Government, besides my employers, the Customs. We are still looking forward for financial help from corporates without which I cannot dream of competing in European circuits, which will only help improve my performance."
