BHUBANESWAR: Kalinga Stadium seems to be the lucky ground for the Kerala jumper Ancy Sojan as she bagged the gold medal in the women’s long jump event with a distance of 6.71m in the Indian Open World Athletics Continental Tour Silver Level meet here on Saturday. The silver and bronze medals were claimed by Shaili Singh and Mubssina Mohammed with a distance of 6.56m and 6.31m, respectively.
Two months back, Ancy broke 22-year-old record in women's long jump in the national inter-state senior athletics championships with a jump of 6.88m. In the process she breached the 6.83m record of legendary and India's first athletics world championships medallist Anju Bobby George at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Looking more relaxed here, Ancy said, “Today, I am very much happy to win the gold medal again at Kalinga Stadium. The last time here I scripted a new national record. Before the Asian Games, this event is more of a warm up event and I need to maintain my rhythm. Kalinga Stadium is one of the best stadiums in our country."
“My dream is to win the Asian Games gold medal in Japan for my country. In the past I had faced a lot of injuries, however, now, I am fully fit thanks to my coach, physio and dietitians. My future target is 7m jumps. Our team will be here for the camp and I will work on my runway and jump," added Ancy.
Talking about her diet, Ancy said, “I need to jump longer distances for which I have to be light. To maintain my weight, I am strictly following my diet, it's not easy to be always on a calorie- counted diet, but I have become adjustable to that”.