STORYLINE & RULES » ter that the lights on the Henley Bridge in

The story till thenEver since the heady days of the 1980s and 90s, when PT Usha commanded the Asian Games with her performances and made fourth place at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Indias search for its next star athlete tended to focus on the track. The countrys most successful and recognisable female track stars had eased themselves gradually into retirement, and while their persevering successors did well at the Asian level, they went no higher. Little attention was paid to a heptathlete from Kerala who had decided to switch to the long jump and triple jump.A double gold winner at the National Games, Anju Bobby George held national records for both events. An ankle injury had kept her out of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and public attention, but from 2001, still under the radar, she was making the biggest strides in her career along with her husband and coach, Bobby George. A long jump gold medal at the 2002 Busan Asian Games and a rise up the international rankings offered signs of what was to come.The moment After a season in Europe with her husband-coach and a spell of training with world long jump champion Mike Powell, George made it to the 2003 World Championships final on a cold and drizzly August evening at Paris Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The qualifiers had cut the defending champion Fiona May of Italy and the 2002 Commonwealth champion Elva Goulbourne of Jamaica out of the fray. The finals field featured world champion heptathlete Eunice Barber of France, and Olympic medallist and European champion Tatyana Kotova of Russia. But Georges closest rival over the six-jump final was to be Jade Johnson of Britain, the silver medallist at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, where George had taken bronze.Georges 6.61m on her first jump was improved by Johnsons 6.63m and pushed her to fourth position. On jump No. 5, she thought she had been flat. I dont know how I landed, my legs were in a tangle, I thought, she said. On landing, she looked stricken, her head dropped and she hit the sand in frustration. When the numbers appeared, they showed 6.70m, four centimetres short of the national record and her seasons best. But ahead of Johnson, into third place and medal contention.When Johnson couldnt match that over her next three jumps, George had made her big leap into Indian sporting history, becoming the first Indian to win a medal at the World Championships.The reaction We always had a dream, the dream of taking Indian athletics away from the routine sob stories. Of winning a big medal for our country. We had to achieve that, no matter how hard it was. - Bobby George, Anjus coach and husbandExpert view She still had a lot more in her. She had great jumping ability and way better landing than I had. She needed more speed and I didnt have enough time to teach her that. She was sure of herself when she was on the field. - Mike Powell, world long jump record holderThe story since After Paris, Anju Bobby George remained Indias most successful medal winner on the world stage. At the Athens Olympics in 2004, she made the finals and broke the national long jump record with 6.83m, which still stands. In 2005, she won a long jump silver at the World Athletics Final in Monte Carlo. Nine years later that was upgraded to gold because of a drugs test failed by the gold medallist Tatyana Kotova.After Anjus retirement, Indias performances in track and field have grown with promising consistency, if not with world medals. At the 2012 London Olympics, discus thrower Vikas Gowda made the finals and race walker KT Irfan finished tenth and broke the national record in the 20km walk. Indias 4x400m womens relay team are once again amongst the top two teams in Asia along with the Chinese. Yet a world-class medallist and a breakout star is still to be found. 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Cheap Nike Roshe Shoes . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The dozens of floral arrangements surrounding Pat Summitts statue showed the respect for the coach and the love she received around Tennessees campus.Summitt died Tuesday morning at the age of 64, five years after announcing she had early-onset dementia, Alzheimers type, a disease that prematurely ended a womens basketball coaching career in which she led the Lady Volunteers to eight national titles and won a Division I-record 1,098 games. The news created a somber atmosphere on Tennessees campus as fans gathered at Pat Summitt Plaza, the home of a statue of the coach standing and smiling rather than wearing her trademark glare.Amy Palmer of Knoxville said its like weve lost a family member after joining the dozens of fans who signed a We (Heart) Pat sign that was taped to the wall behind Summitts statue.Its very solemn, Palmer said. Theres just a hush. Theres a different air. I think it will always be that way. It will never be the same, ever.Over the course of the day, hundreds of fans visited the plaza featuring the 8-foot, 7-inch bronze statue of Summitt, which reflects the steely resolve she showed in building the Tennessee womens basketball program and leading the fight against Alzheimers disease. Notes, balloons and even a couple of basketballs were placed alongside flowers at the foot of the statue.Its amazing when I came in, how many people were here honoring her at the statue, said Tennessee womens basketball coach Holly Warlick, who played for Summitt and worked as an assistant on her staff for 27 seasons before replacing her. Theyre not basketball players. Theyre just normal people wanting to pay their respects. ... What a great tribute for her.Sandy Sutton of Louisville, Tennessee, picked some Easter lilies from her yard and left them at the feet of Summitts statue. She noted the flowers were just like Pat -- homegrown, a nod to the coachs status as a Tennessee native.Im probably going to cry all day today, Sutton said. She was an outstanding Tennessean. Everything about her just brought inspiration to all of us.Tennessee Waaltz was played at campus landmark Ayres Hall at 8 p.ddddddddddddm. in honor of Summitts eight national titles.As fans gathered in the plaza, numerous school officials gave emotional press conferences while offering their memories of Summitt across the street at the campus studio. Warlick and athletic director Dave Hart choked up on multiple occasions as they discussed what Summitt had meant to them.No other coach has ever impacted a sport the way she impacted womens basketball, Hart said.People around campus said Summitts loss was evident as soon as the news came out that she had died.Shes a part of all of us, from the custodian (to) the teachers, the professors and the kids, said Samuel Henry, a Knoxville custodial worker who used to shine the floors of the Thompson-Boling Arena basketball court that bears Summitts name.Joan Cronan, Tennessee womens athletic director for much of Summitts tenure, got the news early Tuesday morning and immediately planned to leave her home and head to where the coach had been staying. Then she realized she hadnt made her bed yet.Pat always taught discipline, Cronan said. I remember at the first day of camp, she would ask all the campers, `Did you make your bed this morning? Guess who went back and made their bed this morning. I did.The mourning around town wasnt restricted to Tennessees campus.Knoxville mayor Madeline Rogero announced on Twitter that the lights on the Henley Bridge in downtown Knoxville would be switched to the Lady Vols colors of orange, white and blue in remembrance of coach Summitts deep devotion to Knoxville.Dana Hart, the president of the Womens Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, said the facility had about six times more visitors than they get on a typical summer Tuesday. Summitt played a major role in bringing the Hall of Fame to Knoxville.We always say without Pat Summitt, the Hall of Fame wouldnt be here and there may not even have been a Hall of Fame, Dana Hart said. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '