New Delhi:All season, Ancy Sojan had been a picture of consistency. From meet to meet as well as jumps within them. On Sunday, at a rain-swept Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, the favourite in the competition almost had the Asian Games women’s long jump gold medal around her neck.
Then the last jump twist-in-the-tail that long jumps have witnessed in the past struck. And China’s Huang Yingying took it away. By two centimetres.
Heading to Aichi-Nagoya, Ancy’s focus wasn’t just on upgrading her silver medal from 2023 Hangzhou, the 25-year-old was even determined to become the first Indian woman to touch 7 metres. After all, Ancy had set a new national mark of 6.88m, erasing a 22-year record in the season.
For much of Sunday, the distance didn’t appear doable for anyone in the field. Her first attempt of 6.49m kept her on top, and when she cleared 6.53m in her fifth attempt, it seemed enough to clinch victory. Huang, whose 6.44m second attempt had left her hopeful of a medal, seemed to catch when she jumped 6.49m in her fifth attempt. Still, Ancy’s first 6.50-plus jump of the final looked good. Until her final jump of 6.55m.
Ancy until then had looked relaxed, her usual effervescent self with her colourful hair accessories, painted nails and bling all in place. Her sequence was 6.49m, foul, 6.46m and 6.31m and 6.49m. The 6.53m all but promised victory.
Huang was pushing her, though her 6.49m too would not have been enough as Ancy’s second jump was better if it went into countback. The last two jumps of the competition were to come. Huang went first and nailed the lead. The pressure was now on Sojan, who had led all competition.
The run-up and take off looked good, and she almost seemed to clear the imaginary line marking the lead jump. In the end, it proved just short.
“There was a bit of a fight with these girls but I hoped at the last moment that I would be the gold medalist,” a dejected Ancy said. “I was a little tired because of the rain. I tried my best but it wasn’t my day. My day will come. I will work hard.”
“Next season, there are a lot of competitions on the big stages. I hope a better one is coming up,” she added.
Despite the heartbreak, it has been an impressive transformation since the last Asian Games. She seemed to operate on a different plane this season, breaching her personal best twice. She jumped 6.75m at the National Senior Athletics Federation Competition in Ranchi, in May.
Then came the 6.88m at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar. It took Anju Bobby George’s national record of 6.83m, set at the 2004 Athens Olympics, in its stride.
“The maximum work was on my diet, especially since I was lacking a bit in fitness and strength. I was trying really hard before, but had problems with fitness and strength, which wasn’t helping me deliver my best results,” she told HT before heading to Japan. “Working on my strength and aggressive runway helped me deliver some good jumps this year.”
Ancy had battled health issues as well.
“I’ve been dealing with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and weight gain issues, which affect me mentally and physically during training. As a jumper, I need to stay light, so I have to work extra hard on my diet, cutting out artificial sugars, reducing carbohydrates, and giving up foods I love like biryani.”
The gold slipped away but after a robust season, Ancy has plenty to be happy about. When Ancy broke Anju’s record, the latter told her: “After 22 years, I am passing the baton to you. Now it’s your turn to perform on global stages and bring back more medals for India.”
Ancy said: “It meant a lot to me because it was a 22-year-old record. Anju ma’am is a legend. I’ve followed her journey in magazines and viewed her as a wonder woman. Achieving that mark feels incredible,” she had said.
Narrow miss for Shaili
India’s other medal hope, Shaili Singh – mentored by Anju and coached by her husband Robert Bobby George – also faced disappointment after being pushed to fourth late in the competition. Her fourth and fifth attempts (6.41m, 6.42) had kept Shaili third. That was until China’s Tan Mengyi produced 6.46m with her last jump and snatched the bronze away.
With inputs from Rutvick Mehta