Jeswin Aldrin on Thursday broke the men’s long jump record National Record with an 8.42m attempt at the 2nd Indian Open Jumps Competition at the Inspire Institute of Sport in Bellary, Karnataka. Aldrin clinched gold ahead of Muhammed Yahiya who put up a best jump of 7.85 metres. Rishabh Rishishwar took bronze with a jump of 7.77 metres.
Archive: Long jumper Jeswin Aldrin is being pushed to new heights by his fierce hunger and a rival
Speaking after breaking the National Record, Aldrin said, “I wanted to break the national record last year but unfortunately it ended up being a wind-assisted jump. I am happy that I finally broke the record at my home ground - the Inspire Institute of Sport. I am elated that the national record is now in my name.”
With his 8.42m attempt, Aldrin broke Murali Sreeshankar’s record of 8.36m which was set at the 2022 Federation Cup. Incidentally, Aldrin had won gold ahead of Sreeshankar at the Federation Cup with a wind-assisted jump of 8.37m.
The Tamil Nadu jumper has been in good form having won silver at the 2023 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Kazakhstan in February with a jump of 7.97m.
Aldrin’s form had dipped after the Federation Cup triumph last year which cost him a place in India’s Commonwealth Games squad.
The 21-year-old had also been dropped from the World Championships squad despite being among only 12 jumpers to have cleared the automatic qualification mark of 8.22m. However, the Athletics Federation of India held two trials for Aldrin following which he was included in the Worlds squad.
At the World Championships in Oregon, Aldrin failed to qualify for the final after finishing 20th in the qualifiers with a best jump of 7.79m.
In triple jump, Praveen Chithravel broke the meet record with a jump of 17.17 metres to clinch gold in the discipline. He erased the mark established by Eldhose Paul who came in the second spot with a jump of 16.61 metres. The bronze medal spot was grabbed by Abdulla Aboobacker with a jump of 15.93 metres ensuring that the IIS trio clinched all the spots on the podium.
Speaking of his performance Chithravel said, “I am happy with my jump but I wanted to break the national record. It’s unfortunate that it couldn’t happen, but it’s good that I won the competition at my home ground - IIS. I am looking forward to doing better in the upcoming competitions.”
In the men’s high jump, Sarvesh Anil Kushare from Maharashtra broke the meet record with a jump of 2.24 metres breaking C.Balasubramanya’s record of 2.09 metres to clinch gold. Silver was bagged by Uchchaal Kumar Roy from West Bengal with a jump of 2.08 metres while the bronze went to Swadhin Kumar Majhi from Odisha with a similar jump of 2.08.
In the Women’s high jump, Rubina Yadav and Abhinaya Shetty both claimed the top spot with a jump of 1.74 metres, whereas the bronze went to Niranjana Sampath from Tamil Nadu with a jump of 1.60 metres.
In the women’s triple jump, Gayathry Sivakumar from Kerala clinched gold with a meet record of 12.98 metres. The silver went to R Punitha from Tamil Nadu with a best jump of 12.39, while Sharvari Parulekar clinched the bronze medal with a jump of 12.30 metres.
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