Monaco Diamond League: Farmer’s son Sarvesh Kushare created history, became the first Indian high jumper to win a medal in the Diamond League.
Monaco. India’s star athlete and national record holder Sarvesh Kushare has created history in the Monaco Diamond League. Taking part in the high jump event, 31-year-old Sarvesh secured third place on his debut. With this, he has become India’s first high jumper and fourth athlete overall to make it to the top three in the prestigious Diamond League competition. Before Sarvesh, this exclusive club included only javelin throw superstar Neeraj Chopra, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar and former discus throw athlete Vikas Gowda.
Jumped 2.26 meters by beating the world champions
Sarvesh had entered this global competition just two weeks after setting a new national record of 2.31 meters during the National Interstate Championship in Bhubaneswar. In the presence of many great players of the world, he captured the podium (third position) with a spectacular jump of 2.26 meters. During this historic performance, Sarvesh left behind veteran star players like Qatar’s three-time world champion and Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Mutaz Essa Barshim and Juvon Harrison of America. Barshim could jump only 2.20 meters in this event and stood joint eighth. The gold medal of the competition was won by Oleh Doroshchuk of Ukraine (2.32 m) and the silver medal was won by Jack Kimani of Great Britain (2.30 m).
The journey started with corn husk and cotton mattress
This success of Sarvesh Kushare is extraordinary because his beginning was very struggling. Born to a common onion farmer in Devargaon village in Nashik district of Maharashtra, Sarvesh did not even have basic facilities for practice in his childhood. In his early days, his father and childhood coach had prepared a makeshift ‘landing pit’ for him by mixing corn husks, dry grass and cotton, on which he used to practice day and night. In his early days, his father and childhood coach had prepared a makeshift ‘landing pit’ for him by mixing corn husks, dry grass and cotton, on which he used to practice day and night.
Records journey and future goals
2018: Won first national gold medal in Indian Open.
2022: Won gold medal in Gujarat National Games with a jump of 2.27 meters.
2025: Became the first Indian high jumper to reach the final of the Tokyo World Championships and finished sixth.
2026 (June 27): Broke Tejaswin Shankar’s 8-year-old national record by jumping 2.31 meters in Bhubaneswar.
In the current season, Sarvesh Kushare is jointly fourth in the list of world’s best performing players and first among Asian players. Expressing confidence about his success, Sarvesh said, “Before 2015-16, no Indian was able to go above 2.20 meters. When Tejaswin crossed it, I also believed that I can do it. My next target is to cross the height of 2.35 meters in the near future.”
Comments are closed.