The Indian athletics season is off to a good start, with multiple athletes across events breaking the Asian and Commonwealth Games Qualification barriers very early on in the season.
A month since the domestic athletics season kicked off with the first-ever India Open Throws and Indian Open Jumps competition, the one breed of athletes which has left fans impressed with some mouth-watering performances are the long-jumpers.
It all started with a fiery battle between two jumpers from Kerala – Murali Sreeshankar and Muhammed Anees Yahiya, in their own backyard at Trivandrum. While the former – a 2020 Tokyo Olympian, started with an effort of 8.14 m in his very first attempt of the season, the latter eclipsed it with his own personal best of 8.15 m to establish himself as the strongest contender for having the yellow metal around his neck. Just when it looked as if Yahiya would be the first-ever Open Jumps Champion, Sreeshankar produced his season-best effort of 8.17 m with his final jump to seal the deal.The long jumpers continued this momentum to the Indian Grand Prix 1 (IGP-1) where Jeswin Aldrin broke the 8 m barrier with a massive jump of 8.20 m – just 0.06 m away from the national record. What is to be noted is the fact that Aldrin jumped over 8m thrice in the event and his worst jump of 7.78 m would have still earned him gold. While Yahiya's show dipped to 7.70 m in IGP to settle for the silver medal, Sreeshankar did not start the event.
Not only in the men's section, but the performance in the women's long jump has also been stunning with yet another Kerala athlete – Ancy Sojan, walking away with the gold medals on both occasions. While the 21-year-old jumped her personal best of 6.51 m in the Open Jumps, she improved it to 6.55 m in the IGP-1.Impressed by the display of long jumpers is the Indian legend in the sport, Anju Bobby George.
"We have had good long jumpers in the past as well, but I do not think we ever had a bunch of good athletes emerging together. It is a very good sign and hopefully, this will push each one of them to be on their toes, which is ultimately a very good sign for Indian athletics," says Anju Bobby George to The Bridge.
The 44-year-old is also quick to point out that it is not only in the long jump but there have been some great improvements in triple jump too.
"I think overall there has been a stark improvement in horizontal jumps in the recent years. We have some very promising athletes in the triple jump as well. With the Asian, Commonwealth Games, and World Championships around the corner, it is exciting to think that we might be in with a chance," she states.Anoop Joseph – a Sports Authority of India (SAI) contracted horizontal jumps coach, too, echoes the same sentiment.
"Anees has been around for a long time now, while Sreeshankar has the experience of competing in an Olympics. Overall the depth in the long jump looks good and it is all about maintaining consistency. If our top three jumpers – Anees, Sreeshankar and Jeswin, can get into a better shape then we can definitely expect at least one medal in Asian Games," he says.
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