Bhubaneswar: Asian Games silver medallist long jumper Ancy Sojan and high jumper Sarvesh Kushare created history here at Kalinga Stadium by rewriting national records in women’s long jump and men’s high jump events respectively in the 65th National Inter-State Athletics Championships on Saturday. Both comfortably cleared the Athletics Federation of India's qualifying standard for the 2026 Asian Games.
Ancy breaks 22-year-old national record of Anju Bobby George with a 6.88m jump, the previous record was 6.83m, while Sarvesh shattered men's high jump national record with a stunning clearance of 2.31m, with the jump broke the long-standing national record of 2.29m of Tejaswin Shankar.
“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 Sojan.
This year she is in tremendous form and achieved PB 6.76m in the Federation Cup at Ranchi. Talking about continuing the form Ancy said “ 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. Trained rigorously how to keep my energy label high even after 10 jumps”.
"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" said Sarvesh Kushare.
"In the final attempt, I put the bar at 2.31m. "Once the height reaches 2.30m above it gives a different mental block and pressure. I failed in two attempts before rewriting the NR, in my last chance I cleared it. Today my body is in utmost perfect condition and no injury symbol that boosts me to go forward, " Sarvesh added.
Proud coach Jithin said " what I have not touched in my life, maximum my achievement was 2.22m, my training did it. It's a memorable day for me, as of today no Indian high jumper crossed 2.30m. He will be remembered for many more years to come. For better training facilities presently, he is training at Anju Body George academy".
