World number seven long jumper Anju Bobby George hopes to begin her quest for Olympic glory on the right note with a podium finish in the Japan Grand Prix in Osaka on Saturday.
"I'm aiming to finish in the medal bracket in Osaka but I expect a tough challenge," Anju said on Tuesday.
Anju, along with husband and coach Bobby George, will fly out to Japan tonight to participate in the IAAF Japan Grand Prix in Osaka on May 8.
The Keralite, who was "disappointed" with her gold medal winning effort of 6.66m in the National Circuit Meet, her first competition this season here last month, was now more confident of her form. "I am consistently doing 6.80m in practice," she said.
The 27-year-old star athlete, who last year became the first Indian to win a medal in the World Athletics Championships by winning the bronze medal in Paris with a 6.70m leap, plans to compete in 10-12 events in her build up to the Athens Olympics in August.
Bobby said Anju's preparations were going on in the right earnest and he was concentrating now on fine-tuning her technique.
"We had a good build up and we want to peak at the right time. There are so many things, like the run-up, which you can correct only in competitions," Bobby said.
Anju will return from Japan on May 10 and her next stop would be the Super Grand Prix in Doha, Qatar on May 14.
June would be a busy month for Anju and Bobby as they criss-cross the continents to participate in four top class competitions beginning with the Milan Grand Prix in Italy on June 2.
Next up would be the Golden Spike athletics meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic on June 8 followed by the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, USA on June 19 and the Norwich Union Super Grand Prix in Gateshead, Britain on June 27.
Bobby said Anju would compete in two meets in July. The first would be the 'Meeting de Madrid' in Spain on July 17 while the D N Galan meet in Stockholm, Sweden on July 27 would be her last big event before competing at the Athens Olympic.
