The first hurdle in athlete Pooja Singh’s high jump journey wasn’t a crossbar; it was a five-kilometre bicycle ride. Long before she was breaking national and international records, the youngster from Haryana’s Bosti village pedalled 12 kilometre daily to neighbouring Parta village to train under her coach Balwan Singh Patra. By Class 5, she had already tried everything from kabaddi and kho-kho to gymnastics and yoga. High jump, however, became her calling. Indian athletes have traditionally excelled in throws, sprints and distance events, while high jump remains relatively an unexplored territory. By surpassing former Indian Olympian Sahana Kumari’s long-standing national mark 1.92m high jump, Pooja signalled the arrival of a new generation of technically refined field-event athletes. “Thanks to Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), I am able to train, improve, hone my talent,” she says. “OGQ now handles my games. Sergey Bairan mentors me, and the federation helps with expenses.”
Today, the 19-year-old, who has broken the Indian record with a gold medal in 1.93m high jump at the Asian U20 Championships in Hong Kong, is focusing on the World Junior Championships and the Commonwealth Games to be held in August this year. In 2023, she won gold at the Asian U18 Championships in Tashkent, followed by silver at the Asian U20 Championships in South Korea. She cleared 1.89m to win Asian Championship gold, becoming the first Indian woman in 25 years to claim the title. “My whole life is about my game and what I can do to achieve greater success. My father is a construction worker, mom a housewife. We come from a humble background. My game has given me immense purpose,” Pooja says, adding, “India records were my main target as I had enough junior records. Going forward, I want to break senior records; only then can I sleep soundly.”
Now, her days revolve around speed sessions, jump drills, strength training and recovery at the Anju Bobby George Academy in Bengaluru, under the watchful eye of Uzbekistan-born Bairan. Every competition comes with a specific target. “My day starts by thinking how I can get better, train harder,” she says, “And my nights are about recovery.”
Her crefully curated diet makes a difference. “Before training, it’s oats and dry fruits. After training, a breakfast of eggs. Meals are dal, paneer, sabji and roti or rice—jo ghar mein banta hai (whatever is made at home).” During overseas competitions, OGQ has vegetarian options, protein bars and recovery foods.
Yet for all the medals, satisfaction remains elusive.
“My mother and father always pushed me to do better. I had talent, was quick, and knew I had to achieve big. I trained hard,” says the Bachelor of Physical Education student.
Pooja believes resilience is the greatest lesson sport teaches. “Set aside disappointments and move forward with purpose,” she says. “My game life will be long. My coach’s wife, a four-time Olympian and Asian medal-winning high jumper, competed for over 25 years. I have trained for 10 years and have an equally long and bright future ahead.”
Outside training, there is little room for distraction; friends, hobbies and social life are secondary. Music is her escape; travel broadens her world. Thailand, China, Hong Kong, and South Korea and Lima have become stops on a journey defined largely by one thing: practice. “The game is my only focus. I have to achieve an international target,” she says. “I have India records, but they aren’t enough. There are bigger heights to climb.”
Among the athletes she admires are Neeraj Chopra, Tejaswin Shankar, Shaili Singh and fellow high jumper Sarvesh. One specific memory of an encounter stands out in her mind. At the Asian Games, she met Chopra, who told her: “At such a young age, you are doing well. Keep up the dedication.” His words, “In the future, I believe you will do great things,” made sense and encouraged her, says Pooja.
For an athlete who has progressed from 1.82m in 2023 to 1.89m in 2025 and now 1.93m, her trajectory is unmistakably upward. The world’s best woman athletes routinely clear two metres. Pooja knows there is work to do. But her story is already proof that talent can emerge from unlikely places, that grassroots coaching matters, and that Indian athletics is steadily moving ahead mile after mile.
