BHUBANESWAR: It has been a historic day at the National Inter-state Senior Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium on a warm and humid Saturday evening. Two athletes breached marks that were magical until now. Ancy Sojan broke 22-year-old record in women's long jump while national record holder Sarvesh Kushare managed to jump beyond 2.30m when he cleared 2.31m.
Ancy had been in form this season and had been threatening to breach the 6.83m record of legendary and first world championships medallist Anju Bobby George's achieved at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Kushare became the first Indian to cross 2.30m mark.
After a string of creditable jumps – 6.73m, 6.63m, 6.62m and a foul attempt – Ancy did not look entirely satisfied. While she let out a roar in the first attempt to get things off (she was the first in line), little did the jumper from Kerala know that she shattered a record which stood for more than two decades. Anju's ward Shaili Singh (UP) finished second with a creditable jump of 6.67m. Mobissina of Lakhsadweep won bronze.
On her fifth attempt, Ancy, like usual, prepped up, with her efforts to encore the crowd a little subdued. As she ran to take the ultimate leap, she landed on a territory only she could have done. As the officials measured the distance, the 15-20 second long wait for the announcement would have felt like years. And as the screen displayed ‘6.88m’ she let out a happy roar which would reverberate in India for quite some time. She then tried to make sense of what she just did as she broke a 22-year-old record. As she fell to the floor, the tears followed.
Tears of the injuries she suffered in 2024 and 2025, the pre-season where she had to go through a gruelling diet routine to get herself in shape because of hormonal issues. That mark of her could have landed her in the 2024 Olympics podium, which she missed out, as well as the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
“I came here to do my personal best jump. My first attempt was 6.73m, which gave momentum to my further jumps. In the middle I was a bit tired, but convinced and motivated myself that if you want to win an international medal and to be a world class jumper your tiredness should not over power your body and mind," said Ancy. “Last year I was struggling with hormonal issues and it was very hard for me to lose weight, made some tough changes in my food habits. I trained rigorously to keep my energy levels high even after 10 jumps."
Breaching the 2.30m mark
Kushare's story is more positive and showed a steady upward curve. He also rewrote the national record for the men’s high jump by leaping 2.31m, breaking a 8-year mark owned by Tejaswin Shankar. While his attempts of levelling the said mark went in vain by narrow margins, this leap marked a new record. In his final attempt, Kushare marked his run-up well, timed his jump to perfection, barely disturbing the bar.
The jump is no fluke. He has been trying for the last four years to reach new heights and breach Tejaswin Shankar's previous mark of 2.29m. It was after mush toil he managed here.
Speaking after the jump he said, "Last four years I have been trying to touch 2.30m, finally today I crossed the 2.31m mark and qualified for the Asian Games. More than me, my coach Jithin Thomas sir was very much confident that today I will create a new national record."
"In the final attempt, I put the bar at 2.31m. Once the height reaches above 2.30m it gives a different mental block and pressure," he said. "I failed in two attempts before rewriting the NR, in my last chance. Today my body is in utmost perfect condition and no injury symbol that boosts me to go forward."
