THIRUVANATHAPURAM: They have really made their mother proud. As Sachin James and Nayana James, the siblings from Kozhikode, clinched gold medals in the 54th State Schools Athletics Championships here on Sunday, Tessy was all smiles in the gallery.
While Sachin won the gold in the senior boys hammer throw event and emerged winner for the fourth consecutive time in the event, Nayana set a new meet record in the junior long jump event. Both siblings are students of St George's Higher Secondary School, Kulathuvayal. This is for the first time that Tessy is accompanying her children for a meet. ''Normally, their father used to come with them. This time, I decided to come with them as it was the last attempt of Sachin in the Schools meet. They have really made us proud,'' said an excited Tessy, holding her siblings close to her. Though Sachin holds the State record in the event with a distance of 48.42 m, on Sunday, he could heave the hammer to a distance of 47.56 m only. ''I was very much confident of bettering my own record. But, the uneven surface of the ring affected the momentum and this affected the performance,'' said Sachin, a higher secondary student. Meanwhile, Nayana lost the national record of 5.88 metres by a whisker. She managed to cover the distance of 5.86 metres.
Both athletes are having their training under coach K M Peter at Gramin Sports Academy at Chekkittapara in Kozhikode. ''Initially, Nayana was concentrating on 100m and 200m events. About an year ago, we attempted a jump and the result was surprising.
Later, the focus has been shifted to the jump events and she clinched gold in the junior national championships in Bangalore recently covering a distance of 5.79 metres. She holds enough potential to win medals in the international events,'' Peter said.