National Inter-State Athletics Championships 2026: Ancy Sojan Breaks Anju Bobby George’s 22-Year Record, Sarvesh Kushare Sets New High Jump Mark

National Inter-State Athletics Championships: History was made in Bhubaneshwar during the National Inter-State Athletics Championships as two national records were broken. Ancy Sojan first broke Anju Bobby George’s 22-year-old long jump record. The 25-year-old athlete from Keralam recorded a jump of 6.88 metres. Meanwhile, at the same event, Sarvesh Kushare went past Tejaswin Shankar’s national record in high jump and became the first Indian to go past 2.3 metres.

Ancy Sojan goes past Anju Bobby George, breaking 22-year-old national record

Keralam long-jumper Ancy Sojan made history, smashing the 22-year-old national record in the discipline owned by legendary Anju Bobby George during the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar on Saturday. In the long jump, Ancy, 25, made a sensational leap of 6.88 m, outdoing Anju’s long-held national record of 6.83 m, which was made during the 2004 Athens Olympics.

After she broke the long-standing record of long-jump legend Anju Bobby George, Ancy Sojan dedicated the record-breaking gold medal performance at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships to her father. Ancy Sojan dedicated her record-breaking gold medal performance to her father. “He wanted someone in the family to be a national record holder. The gold medal will be a precious gift to him,” the elated long jumper said.

Sarvesh Kushare becomes first Indian to cross 2.3 metres in High Jump

In the high jump men’s action, Sarvesh Kushare also broke another national record, going past Tejaswin Shankar’s 2.29 m mark with a fantastic 2.31 m leap. By going past Shankar’s mark, Kushare became the first Indian high jumper to record a length of more than 2.3 metres.

Kushare had already made the 2.19-meter mark required to qualify for the Asian Games. With his third attempt, he managed to smash the national record by going over 2.31 meters. He then gave it a shot two more times at 2.35 meters, but he was not able to clear the height. Aadarsh Ram of Tamil Nadu secured second place after he made 2.25 meters. Besides, his performance was good enough to beat the previous record of the meet and also qualify him for the Asian Games. Jesse Sandesh of Karnataka took third place with a jump of 2.19 meters that was also the qualifying standard.

Athletes in National championships qualify for the Asian Games 2026

The championships are taking place from June 24 to 28 in Kalinga Stadium at Bhubaneswar. Several athletes like Dev Meena (pole vault men’s), Jyothi Yarraji (women’s 100 m hurdles), Anushka Yadav (hammer throw women’s), and Mohammed Afsal (800 m men’s) are among the athletes who have secured an Asian Games spot.

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