RANCHI: After a below-satisfactory 2025 which ended in injury, long jumper from Kerala Ancy Sojan stepped into the new year with a point to prove. With a season best of 6.54m in 2025, there were question marks over her potential.
Winning silver in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou — which took place in 2023 — with a leap of 6.63m, she went on to better her mark with a personal best jump of 6.71m in 2024. The expectations were high but her progression took a hit due to injuries.
Cut to the first day of the National Senior Athletics Federation competition on Friday, where the women’s long jump final was taking place and Sojan made herself a star in what was a record-breaking day at the Birsa Munda Football Stadium. She broke the meet record of Shaili Singh (6.64m) which was set last year. Shaili finished second with a leap of 6.58m.
After a subdued start, Sojan came close to her then-PB. Then in the fourth attempt, Sojan leapt 6.75 metres, setting the meet record.
“I just wanted to rock and take the madness out!,” Sojan told reporters after her performance. But her year so far has not been the easiest one. Sojan said she sacrificed a lot to get in shape this season. “I was struggling with hormonal issues. And it was very hard for me to lose weight. And I struggled a lot with food. I trained hard too. Because I know, if I want a good performance, I need to sacrifice and be disciplined. So, my coach Anoop Joseph told me if you want to be a good performer, you need to train like that. So, I feel the changes in my training and all is translating well here. So, it is working,” she said.
She also opened up on how difficult it was for her to follow the diet chart. “Sometimes I felt like I was starving, but I controlled myself to not eat too much. I struggled with that in the beginning. I remember on my off-days, I was crying after the runs,” she said.
But her mindset to roar back and prove doubters wrong did not change. “I heard lots of talk about how others can easily beat me. I said, okay, let them talk. I will train hard and I will show that,” she said.
And that personal best mark is a statement of intent from Sojan. While she might have missed out on Commonwealth Games qualification (6.84m) by a considerable margin, the 25-year-old will have a lot to take away from Ranchi.
Athlete faints in morning session
The men’s 10,000 metre final, which started as early as 5.40 am ended with an athlete collapsing at the finish line. Shivaji M of Karnataka fainted and was helped out of the track by officials and coaches.
Initially, a couple of officials tried to get him out of the track as other athletes were approaching the finish line. However, he could not stand on his own. Then, a few coaches and other officials rushed to help him get out of the track. He got dehydrated and was given first aid. With the temperature hovering around 36 degrees Celsius, the runners had a hard time competing in their respective events.
Shivaji appeared disoriented while running, so much that he could not figure out his lane and was seen violating lane rules. As a result, he was disqualified for lane and inside border infringements.
Meanwhile, discus thrower Seema Kaliramna breached the qualification mark for the CWG, as she threw 57.29m in the women's final.