CHENNAI: At the medal ceremony for the women’s high jump on Friday at the ongoing Asian U20 Athletics championships, Pooja couldn’t hold back her tears as the Indian national anthem played.
Those tears, however, started flowing right as the 19-year-old jumped above the high-jump bar. With that jump of 1.93m, Pooja brought to life her dream of breaching the national record set by Sahana Kumari, which had stood for 14 years. As she landed on the high-jump bed, she tried to celebrate by running, but fell down to cover her face as tears of joy started flowing.
To witness this all was Kumari herself, the high jump coach for the Indian athletics contingent there. “I didn’t know the record stood for 14 years!” she told this daily from Hong Kong.
It was a trip down memory lane for Kumari right after Pooja’s jump. “Seeing her cry, I also began tearing up because only I know how it feels when you jump like that. I was thinking about how I felt when I did my national record jump,” she added.
A day before the continental meet, Pooja and a bunch of athletes had to wait in the airport, as their visa applications to Hong Kong were declined. Her participation at the U20 meet hung in the air, with time not on the athlete's side. "It was too challenging for all the athletes to reach Hong Kong. Some may have reached a little late or in the morning of the meet but they tried their best. Till midnight, we were sitting in the airport and we did everything to get here. We knew how difficult it is to get selected and be denied the visa. Everyone panicked. Officials from the Athletics Federation of India worked day and night to ensure the athletes reach on time,” she said.
The 2012 Olympian, who has guided Pooja in international age-level events on behalf of the AFI, said that she improved on her strength. “Everything from her run-up to the landing is the same. With this performance, she is closer to 1.96m,” she said. Currently, she is coached by Sergey Biran, husband of three-time Asian Games medallist from Uzbekistan Svetlana Radzivil.
The emotions she went through is for the obstacles she had to get past in her rise in high jump. From jumping with torn spikes last year to becoming the first woman in India to breach 1.90m earlier this year and eventually creating a new national record, Pooja has set herself an example in a discipline which has not seen any formidable change for more than a decade.Someone who has seen the rise is her first coach Balwan Parta. Pooja, who hails from Bosti village in Fatehabad district in Haryana, initially began as a gymnast under coach Balwan. “Usually, we train kids at the grassroots level. In the year 2017, I felt Pooja could do well in high jump. Her speed was good. We tried her and she did well. After that, we didn't look back,” Balwan told this daily.
But affording a pair of spikes was not the easiest, too. On top of that, she had to train with rice sacks as the landing bed, with bamboo sticks as the high-jump bar. “We provided her with local spikes. We made her do it slowly. Then, when she played a U-14 competition organised by Adidas, she played with normal spikes. After that, when she qualified for U-16, the organisers gifted her an Adidas spike, which cost Rs 11,000 then,” he said.
Born to a mason and a housewife, Pooja’s foray into the sport did not face any hurdles, according to the coach, who runs Parta Sports Academy. “The family did not have any sporting background. They let her play on the conditions that she has to succeed,” the coach recalled.
With all the adversities she had to go through, those who have seen her close up believe it is her moment to shine. “Everything about her performance is calculated. I am happy for her and whatever she did it's all out of her own. I can only guide her. It's only her effort, her talent and her dedication,” Kumari said.