Indian medal hope Anju Bobby George set a personal best and broke the Indian national record with her sixth-place finish in the long jump at the Olympics.

Vinod has rightly complained about the unsupportive Indian press, but the Indian Express had kind words for George:

It may have been a failure for Anju Bobby George. But it was a success story for Indian athletics… In fact her 6.83 was better than her own national mark of 6.74 which she had done twice.

And the Times of India sent this valentine:

It’s alright, Anju, you are our Athena

She aroused great passions among Indian sports fans just as sprint queen P T Usha had two decades ago… To her credit, Anju kept her cool and pushed herself to the limit. In the end, Anju Bobby George achieved what she was meant to: break through a mental threshold for millions of Indians.

Meanwhile, the women’s 4×400 relay team, a.k.a. the Secret Punjabi-Malayalee Sprinters Alliance of Rajwinder Kaur, Manjeet Kaur, K.M. Beenamol and Chitra Soman, qualified for the finals, just as a previous women’s 4×400 team did in Los Angeles in ’84.

Update: Mango Swami observed their shapely modesty:

[T]hey were the only team not wearing those skimpy bikini running shorts. Forget cutting-edge aerodynamics, we kick it old school, Umbro shorts and waist-length plaits.

Update 2: The relay team placed seventh in the finals after their anchor, Manjeet Kaur, fell ill and had to be replaced with an alternate.