Now Reading: Ancy Sojan breaks 22-year-old national long jump record, eyes Asiad gold
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Ancy Sojan breaks 22-year-old national long jump record, eyes Asiad gold
Kerala long jumper Ancy Sojan, 25, broke the 22-year-old national record of Anju Bobby George with a jump of 6.88m in Bhubaneswar in June. She will now compete at the World Athletics…
Kerala long jumper Ancy Sojan, 25, broke the 22-year-old national record of Anju Bobby George with a jump of 6.88m in Bhubaneswar in June. She will now compete at the World Athletics Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar from August 22 and the Indian Athletics Series in Delhi from September 10, ahead of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games next month where she won silver in the previous edition.
Ancy, who started as a sprinter training on the loose sands of Nattika beach in Thrissur, switched to long jump in 2015. Her father, an autorickshaw driver, is recovering from an injury and has not resumed driving. Her coach Anoop Joseph said the 6.88m jump was technically perfect but cautioned against getting carried away as they work on her speed and strength.
Ancy's childhood coach Sanoj VV had predicted she would break George's record. Nattika, which has produced Olympians like P Ramachandran, lacks a synthetic track, and athletes have to travel at least two hours to Kunnamkulam or Palakkad for training.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Ancy's record jump of 6.88m is still well short of the Asian Games gold-winning distance of 6.73m from the last edition, but she will need to consistently jump above 6.80m to medal. The lack of a synthetic track in Nattika highlights the infrastructure gap faced by athletes outside major centres. The government recently inaugurated a new facility, but progress on the Thrissur Corporation Stadium track has been slow. The Asian Games next month will be the real test of her preparation.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
