Who became the first Indian to win a medal at the World Championships in Athletics, in 2003?

Anju Bobby George won the bronze medal in the women's long jump at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics (then organised by the IAAF, now World Athletics) in Paris, with a jump of 6.70 metres. She became the first Indian, man or woman, to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships.

About Anju Bobby George:

• She was born in 1977 in Kottayam district, Kerala.
• She was coached by her husband, Robert Bobby George, a former triple jumper.

She won gold at the 2005 IAAF World Athletics Final in Monaco (originally silver, later upgraded after the winner was disqualified for doping). Some sources call this her biggest win.

She won gold in the long jump at the 2002 Busan Asian Games and silver at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, and bronze at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.

She finished sixth in the long jump at the 2004 Athens Olympics; her jump of 6.83 m there remains the Indian national record.

She received the Arjuna Award (2002), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2003) and the Padma Shri (2004).

She later became a Senior Vice-President of the Athletics Federation of India and was honoured by World Athletics with its "Woman of the Year" award in 2021 for her work promoting women's sport.

Later Indian medals at the World Athletics Championships:

• Neeraj Chopra won silver in the javelin at the 2022 Championships in Eugene (USA), India's second medal, and then won gold at the 2023 Championships in Budapest, India's first-ever gold at the World Championships.
• Neeraj Chopra also won India's first Olympic gold in athletics, in the javelin at Tokyo 2020.

Why not the other options?

• ✗T. Usha, the "Payyoli Express", narrowly missed an Olympic bronze in the 400 m hurdles in 1984.
• ✗Neeraj Chopra won medals at the World Championships later (silver 2022, gold 2023).
• ✗Milkha Singh, the "Flying Sikh", finished fourth in the 400 m at the 1960 Rome Olympics.