Prajusha jumps to national mark,agony for Mayookha

Mayookha was in second place after the first round. But her best jump of the evening,13.58 metres,was good enough only for a 7th place. She also watched her record of 13.68,set at the inter-state nationals in August being broken by her training partner Prajusha Maliakkal,who leaped 13.72 metres in the fourth round to finish fourth. Jamaica’s Kaye Trecia Smith’s only legal attempt of 14.19 metres was good enough for the gold.

Ayanna Alexander (13.91) of Trinidad and Tobago and Tabia Charles (13.84) of Canada took the silver and bronze respectively.

Mayookha rushed to put an ice pack on her right ankle after the triple jump. “My take-off foot in the long jump is the left one so the discomfort in my right ankle should not affect my performance tomorrow,” Mayookha said. “I am disappointed by my performance as I was confident of touching 14 metres but after I felt pain in my ankle it was always going to be difficult,” she added.

Prajusha was overjoyed with her performance. “I was not at all nervous today. I think staying calm and cool helped me break the national record. Before Mayookha broke the record it belonged to Anju Bobby George so this achievement means a lot to me,” Prajusha,who is also participating in the long jump qualifying on Saturday morning,said.