Indian athletes put in a spirited performance on the international stage in 2004, which saw K M Binu joining Anju Bobby George as the country's future hope.

While world number six Anju had to be content with a dream first jump that measured 6.83m -- a new national record erasing her own of 6.74m set in 2001 and equalled in 2002 -- to finish sixth in a top class field at the Athens Olympics, Binu took hold of the men's 400m national record as he reached the semis.

In the process, he also bettered 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh's time set in the 1960 Rome Olympics which was till then the best set by an Indian on foreign soil.

Also impressing were heptathlete J J Sobha with her never-say-die spirit and the women's 4x400m relay quartet which reached the final bettering it's own national record.

The impressive performance blunted the skeptics after the athletes were accused of taking performance enhancing drugs when they went to Russian republics and sought the help of trainers in East European countries.

In the end, it was the athletes and officials who came out smiling as none of the members of the athletics squad were caught in the net cast by the World-Anti Doping Agency.

The turnaround began with Anju getting India back on the world map with her historic bronze win at the 2003 World Championships in Paris.

That raised the expectations on the 27-year-old Customs Officer and the Keralite and her husband and coach Robert Bobby George had a trying time to maintain their focus. In the
end the duo came out of the Olympics with their heads held high without a medal though.

On the men's side, it was Binu who emerged as the star.

The 24-year-old came up with a dream run clocking a personal best of 45.59 seconds in April in Delhi that gave him a berth to Athens.

He did not disappoint his fans at the Games producing a new national record of 45.48 seconds to qualify for the semifinals. Thus, Binu got on level terms with his elder sister K M Beenamol, who was India's saving grace at the Sydney Games four years back.

For Anju and Robert, the disappointment at Athens only hardened their resolve to go for the ultimate prize in the next Games coming up in Beijing in 2008.

It was a mixed year for Anju, who saw her form dip alarmingly at some of the preparation events before giving it her all against the world's best at the Olympic stadium in August.

She began the final in right earnest shattering her own national record to raise hopes of thousands of Indians who stayed awake late in the night to catch the action live.

But she was unable to improve her mark as her form went down hill even as the three Russians leaped past the seven-metre mark to finish on the podium.