KOCHI, SEPT 14: Even he failed to remember his own achievement until reminded of it. Thadathuvilla Chandapilla Yohannan's National long jump record celebrated its silver jubilee on Sunday (September 12).When contacted on Monday, Yohannan was overwhelmed with joy as he recollected that day in Teheran when he achieved the feat.The 8.07-metre mark which Yohannan set at the the Asian Games 25 years ago is still a National record. The Aryamehr Stadium was the venue of that achievement.``Inspite of writhing pain in my legs, I went all out while attempting that jump. After that attempt, I couldn't believe it. Against my name was credited both an Asian record as well as a new Asian Games mark (which was rewritten 16 years later in Beijing).''``I could still recall my name being flashed repeatedly on the giant display board at the Stadium,'' recalled Yohannan, a regional manager with Telco.The bronze medal in the event also went to an Indian Satish Pillai currently a senior officer at Tisco, Jamshedpur.The previous Games record in the event (7.62m) was held by S Ogura (Japan), who set it at the 1970 Bangkok Games. And the Asian record was in the name of Hoshita Yamada (Japan). Yamada (8.01m) was the first Asian to cross the eight-metre mark in the first Asian Amateur Athletic Championship in 1973.``Everyone in the Indian camp was happy at my feat and we celebrated the whole night. My gold medal was one of the four earned by India at that Games,'' Yohannan recounted.Others to win were Vijay Singh Chauhan (decathlon), Kamaljit Sandhu (women's 400m) and Bahadur Singh (shot put).Several long-standing National records, including Milkha Singh's 400m mark (set in 1960) were re-written in the recent past. But Yohannan's is one of the oldest marks to survive still.``During every athletic meet in the country, I would look with much excitement and curiosity to see if anyone had eclipsed my record,'' he said. ``I would love to see it shattered at the earliest. Otherwise, it will be a big embarrassment to our current bunch of stars,'' observed Yohannan.Last month, Sanjay Kumar Rai touched the 8-metre mark during the Federation Cup in Bangalore. That was the first and only time someone from within the country had come close to Yohannan's mark.When queried if he would announce a cash award for anyone who broke his record (like Milkha Singh), Yohannan quipped: ``Milkha Singh has earned a lot of money and he can afford to part with a share of it. I would be only too happy if he announces a similar award for a new record in long jump.''
