Latest news with #NationalFederationAthleticsChampionship
Hindustan Times
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
India's still waiting for the long jump
New Delhi: Two years is a long time in elite sport, and nothing exemplifies it better than the dwindling fortunes of India's men's long jump. When Jeswin Aldrin leapt 8.42 metres in March 2023 at the AFI National Jumps Competition in Vijayanagar, not only did he break the then national record but also presented India with a rare, tantalising prospect of two elite jumpers pushing each other to meet world standards. Too bad it ended up being a bit of a false dawn. Aldrin's duel with Murali Sreeshankar was great while it lasted. The Kerala jumper held the previous national mark of 8.36m — achieved at the 2022 Federation Cup in Kozhikode — even though Aldrin, who hails from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, had logged 8.37m at the same event. However, since Aldrin's jump was wind-aided, the national mark went to Sreeshankar. A year later in Vijaynagar, Aldrin, besides breaking the record in style, produced three 8m-plus jumps in the final. Back then, he had expressed confidence in touching the 8.50m mark in a few years. Three months later, Sreeshankar came close to Aldrin's record with a personal best of 8.41m in Bhubaneshwar before taking a silver medal at Hangzhou Asian Games (8.19m). Then came the prolonged drought and a bunch of misfortunes. Aldrin and Sreeshankar, for varying reasons, have been pushed to the sidelines and the excitement that the long jump pit generated not too long ago is fast diminishing. At the recently-concluded National Federation Athletics Championship in Kochi, Tamil Nadu's David P walked away with the top honours with a leap of 7.94m while Aldrin finished second with 7.83m. In the handful of domestic competitions this season where long jump was part of the programme, the 8m mark has remained untouched. Aldrin is hopeful of a resurgence. The 23-year-old pulled his right hamstring at the Indian Open meet in Chennai and finished seventh with a jump of 7.36m. 'I am not too disappointed with my performance. I competed in pain in Chennai and came to Kochi after barely getting any practice. I am confident of touching the 8m mark as the season progresses,' he said. Aldrin spent three months from January in Florida under the tutelage of Reliance Foundation's Athletics Director James Hillier and the duo has worked to add speed to his approach. 'It's a gradual process but we are confident that Jeswin will consistently do 8.40-8.50m in 2-3 years. We are trying to get him to think like a champion and believe in his abilities. The psychological impact of the left knee injury he sustained at the World Championships was quite significant,' Hillier said, referring to his slip at the board in Budapest two years back. 'I agree he tailed off a little after that injury but he has the makings of becoming a consistent 8m jumper. It's unfortunate that both Sree and Jeswin tapered off at the same time, but this Olympic cycle has just started and we will soon have them at their best,' said World Championships medallist Anju Bobby George. Be that as it may, Aldrin failed to meet the cut for this year's Asian Championships and has now trained his sights for the World University Games in July. Sreeshankar, meanwhile, is still recovering from his knee surgery that cost him a spot at the Paris Olympics. He went under the knife last April and is known to have restarted his training but there's not much clarity on his return to competitions. 'We need to be patient with these guys,' added Anju. 'Long jump is a technical sport and players are prone to injuries, but I do feel the pressure of expectations on Jeswin after his national record was a little too much.' Hillier agreed. 'He was not managed or nurtured well enough. Everything was so new to him and he crumbled. The other issue was he would rarely complete six legal jumps, so we are addressing that as well.' Aldrin, Hillier believes, also suffered from wrong peaking. It doesn't take much to note that his performances at major international meets were at best forgettable even though Aldrin kept jumping well at home. 'I think he had the right performances at the wrong time, which again comes down to management. Some of his domestic performances, be it the rhythm, confidence, or results, would have got him some international medals,' Hillier opined. With two of India's best male long jumpers still finding their way back, the onus is on the youngsters to step up. The bench, however, is largely barren. Uttar Pradesh's upcoming 22-year-old Aditya Kumar Singh has shown potential — he was the lone Indian to touch 8m in 2024 and has started the year by winning the Indian Open in Chennai. Tamil Nadu's David P, 23, should be looking to seize his opportunity too. 'There is lack of depth, for sure. And it is an Indian athletics problem more than a long jump problem. We need a pool of 5-6 seniors pushing each other and a strong bunch of juniors to keep them on their toes. That requires good coaching and infrastructure at grassroots,' Hillier said.
Hindustan Times
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Kujur, Chithravel light up the Federation Cup
New Delhi: After flirting with Amlan Borgohain's 200m national record of 20.52s for much of last season, Animesh Kujur finally ran the fastest half lap by an Indian on Thursday, in the process defending his crown at the ongoing National Federation Athletics Championship in Kochi and making the cut for this year's Asian Championships for which the qualifying mark stood at 20.53s. Coming into the race as one of the primary challengers to the erstwhile national record of 20.52s -- set in the same competition three years back -- the 21-year-old Kujur clocked an impressive 20.40s to finish ahead of Borgohain (20.80s) and Ragul Kumar (20.85s). This is also the first time in six attempts that Kujur has beaten Borgohain in a World Athletics-recognised meet. The race ended up being the fastest 200m dash on Indian soil with four sprinters dipping under 21 seconds. Besides the three medallists, Karnataka's Manikanta Hoblidhar ran 20.91 seconds to take the fourth spot. Running in Lane 5, Kujur was steady off the blocks before accelerating at the bend. He opened a decisive lead in the home stretch and led the last 60m to take the title and the record. His now-familiar impersonation of Lightning Bolt duly followed. 'I had a feeling that I would get a good time after the race earlier in the day. I felt like I got a really good push today, especially around the 100m mark. I want to thank my coach, Odisha government and my whole team at Reliance Foundation for always supporting me,' Kujur said after the race. He fell short of the World Championships qualifying mark of 20.16 seconds but has now trained his sights on the elite event. 'My focus is on the World Championships,' he said. Kujur's victory doesn't come as a surprise considering his recent form. He won the gold medal at the Uttarakhand National Games in February with a time of 20.58 seconds. In fact, Kujur had done a golden treble in Dehradun, winning the 100m, 200, and 4X100m relay races with ease. All three results ended up being the Games record -- 10.28s in 100m, 20.58s in 200m, and 39.47s in relays -- even though he missed the then 100m national record by 0.04s and the 200m mark by 0.06s. Speaking to HT after the National Games, Kujur had expressed his desire to become the fastest Indian ever. 'I don't chase records. I want to be the fastest Indian ever, that will take care of the records,' he had said. Kujur followed up that golden campaign with a 200m win at the Indian Open Athletics Meet in Chennai earlier this month where he timed 20.63 seconds. His coach at the Reliance High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar, Martin Owens, believes Kujur is still a work in progress and has the potential to reach where no Indian has ventured before. 'Animesh is an eight-year project. He wants to go under 10s and 20s, and he is capable, but that won't happen overnight. It will take a lot of effort from him to get there. I want to see him at the 2032 Olympics, for sure,' Owens had told HT in an earlier interaction. Kujur's performances, over the past season, underline his steady progress. He came close to breaking the 200m mark last year as well when he clocked 20.62 seconds to win the Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar, which made him the second-fastest Indian of all time behind Borgohain. He then did 20.65 seconds in the men's 200m final at the Inter-State Athletics Championships in Panchkula before repeating the time at the India Open U-23 Athletics Championships. Kujur also clocked 20.57s at the All India Inter University Athletics Meet last December, but since the competition is not recognised by World Athletics, the mark wasn't ratified. Chithravel meets Worlds mark Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist triple jumper Praveen Chithravel equalled his own national record of 17.37m and qualified for the World Championships to be held in Tokyo this September. The marker was set at 17.22m. The 23-year-old Chithravel, representing JSW, logged his best jump on his third attempt to take the gold. He had first set the national record in Havana in May 2023. 'My plan was to record a jump of 17.20m plus today,' he said. Abdulla Aboobacker was second with a jump of 16.99m while Mohammed Muhassin was third with a leap of 16.28m. After a below-par 2024 where he crossed the 17m-mark only once besides finishing 12th in his qualifying round at the Paris Olympics, Chithravel has started the season well. He won gold at the Uttarakhand National Games in February with a modest 16.50m before logging a 17.13m effort at the Indian Open Jumps Competition in Bengaluru in March for a second-place result. In women's long jump, Shaili Singh cleared 6.64m to win the gold and break the 23-year-old meet record of 6.59m, set by her mentor Anju Bobby George. Ancy Sojan (6.46m) and Moumita Mondal (6.45m) finished second and third respectively.
The Hindu
24-04-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Animesh Kujur of Odisha breaks 200m National Record at Federation Cup
Animesh Kujur broke the National Record in men's 200m on Thursday, clocking 20.40 to win the gold medal at the National Federation Athletics Championship in Kochi. Kujur bettered the previous record which was held by Amlan Borgohain at 20.52 seconds. With his 20.40 seconds effort, Kujur became the current Asian leader and joint 35th best in the world this season. MORE TO FOLLOW
