India's World Athletics Championship medallist long jumper Anju Bobby George revealed on Tuesday how despite a single kidney, she reached the top in her sport.
Anju won a historic bronze medal at the 2003 World Athletics Championships in Paris. She is the first and only Indian athlete to win a medal at the event.
'Believe it or not, I'm one of the fortunate, among very few who reached the world top with a single KIDNEY, allergic with even a painkiller, with a dead takeoff leg.. Many limitations. still made it. Can we call it magic of a coach or his talent,' she tweeted on Tuesday.
Anju, who won the gold medal in the IAAF World Athletics Finals in Monaco in 2005, was coached by her husband Bobby George.
She also underwent a month-long training stint with legendary long jumper Mike Powell ahead of the Paris World Athletics Championships, which she says was crucial in her winning the medal.
'Anju, it's your hard work, grit and determination to bring laurels for India supported by the dedicated coaches and the whole technical backup team,' Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said in reply to Anju's tweet.
Anju, who won the gold medal at the 2002 Busan Asian Games and silver in the next Asiad in Doha four years later, also finished a creditable sixth at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, but was upgraded to fifth after Marion Jones was disqualified for doping in 2007.
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