Small, frail and not even in top three—that was Shaili Singh when Anju Bobby George first saw her but the iconic Indian long jumper still decided to mentor her as she found the youngster to be more or less like her with a never-say-die attitude.

Shaili was 13 at that time and had finished fifth in a national meet. Now 17, she announced her arrival on the big stage by winning a silver in the U-20 world championships, missing out on a historic gold by a mere 1cm with a 6.59m effort in the long jump final in Nairobi on Sunday.