Anju was born in Kerala in the Kochuparambil family of Changanacheri. Initially, her father taught her athletics, later her instructor at Korothode School developed her interest in athletics. She completed her schooling from CKM Korothode School and graduated from Vimala College. She won the 100m hurdles and relay races at the School Athletic Conference in 1991–92 and finished second in the long jump and high jump competitions, thus becoming the women's champion. Anju's talent was seen at the national school games where she finished third in the 100-meter hurdles and 4x100 meter relay. She was in Calicut University.
Career: Although she made her debut with Heptathlon, she later started focusing on jumping competitions and won the long jump title at the 1996 Delhi Junior Asian Championships. In 1999, Anju set a national record for triple jump in the Bangalore Federation Cup and received a silver medal in the South Asian Federation Games held in Nepal. In 2001, Anju further improved her record of a long jump to 6.74 meters at the National Circuit Meet held in Thiruvananthapuram. In the same year, she won a gold medal in the triple jump and long jump at the National Games held in Ludhiana.
Anju also retained the highest position in her competitions at the Hyderabad National Games. She won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 by jumping 6.49 meters. She also won a gold medal in the Asian Games held in Busan. She made history by winning a bronze medal at the World Athletics Championships held in Paris in 2003 at 6.70 meters, becoming the first Indian athlete to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships. She won a gold medal at the 2003 Afro Asian Games. She did her personal best at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, jumping 6.83 meters and finishing sixth. In September 2005, at the 16th Asian Athletics Championships held in Incheon City, South Korea, she won a gold medal by jumping 6.65 meters in the women's long jump. She won the silver medal in the IAAF World Athletics Final in 2005 by jumping 6.75 meters, which she considers her best performance.
She won the silver medal in the women's long jump at the 15th Asian Games held in Doha in 2006. In the 17th Asian Athletics Championships in Amman (Jordan) in 2007, Anju jumped 6.65 meters to win the silver medal and qualified for the World Championships in Osaka in August 2007 where she finished ninth. Anju made her season debut in 2008 with a silver medal in the third Asian Indoor Championships held in Doha (Qatar) with a jump of 6.38 meters and then improved her jump to the 3rd South in Kochi (Kerala, India). She won the gold medal in the Asian Athletics Championships by jumping 6.50 meters. [2]
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In 2002-2003, she was awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award given by the Government of India to eminent sportspersons and after her success at the World Athletic Meet in 2002-2004, she was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the highest sports award. In 2004, she was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour. On 12 February 2007, Anju was ranked 28 in the International Federation of Athletics Federation (IAAF) rankings (she has also been ranked fourth in the world once in the rankings).
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Her successful journey of just two years from the 61st rank in 2001 to the sixth position in the year 2003 is the result of her hard work. The credit for her success goes to her husband and coach Robert Bobby George, who according to Anju helps her the most in bringing out her potential and achieving the goal. Bobby, is a mechanical engineer and former national champion, ended his career in 1998 to become Anju's full-time coach. He belongs to a distinguished sports family and his younger brother Jimmy George is a famous volleyball player. Prior to the World Athletics Meet, Anju Bobby realized that international exposure was essential to compete in world-class competitions, so she began training with world record holder Mike Powell, which provided her with valuable exposure in technique.
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Anju participated in the 2004 Athens Olympics but failed to win a medal. She also competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics but due to a foul in all three attempts, she failed to qualify for the women's long jump competition.
