Inter-state Athletics: Aishwarya only behind Anju in long jump on Indian soil

Long jumper Aishwarya Babu may have recorded an impressive leap of 6.73m, the best on Indian soil since 2005, on Sunday but it still isn’t her pet event. In fact, coming into the competition, the 24-year-old triple jump specialist hardly practised for the long jump, her “B event”, as her coach likes to put it.

“Not really training specifically for the long jump. Obviously, something must be working because she is jumping 6.73m in the long jump,” says coach Sri Aiyappa who has trained 2010 Asian Game heptathlon bronze medallist and wife Pramila Aiyyapa.

Aishwarya’s attempt, which came in the qualification round, also helped her breach the Commonwealth Games entry mark of 6.50m. Her leap makes her the second-best all-time Indian jumper after the legendary Anju Bobby George who holds the national mark of 6.83m, set in 2004. Anju, India’s lone World Championships medallist, still has three other jumps (2001- 6.74m, 2002- 6.75m, 2005- 6.75m) better than Aishwarya’s 6.73m.

Although Aishwarya did not aim for Anju’s national mark, her jump has made her reassess her targets. “She will break Anju’s record,” says coach Sri Aiyappa.

Aishwarya was spotted by Pramila during a Railways trial two years ago. “Her speed down the runway is something. Her two biggest traits are her speed and explosive ability. In fact, if you see her, you will ask ‘she jumps 6.73m?’ She’s half Anju’s size,” says Aiyappa. “She almost flies off the runway.”

Unexpected leap

Aishwarya will be back on field at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Monday for her pet event, the triple jump, where she has already achieved the qualification mark for the Birmingham CWG. Aishwarya is now second in the triple jump India season-best list with 13.94m and has reached the top of the corresponding long jump charts overtaking Ancy Joseph (6.55m).

Sunday’s leap not only took everyone present at the venue by surprise but Aishwarya’s coach himself. She had never measured distances close to this mark even during practice.

“She was jumping 6.40 in practice (her previous best was 6.52m at the Open Nationals in 2021). So, I knew she had it in her. But this jump was surprising. The main thing now is for her to do well in both the finals here and go home with two national records,” says Aiyappa confidently.

Even though long-jump is still her “B” event, they are not shutting the door on it. “Right now, she is training for the triple jump but she has done great in the long jump. So, there is a pattern and we will follow it. But if she continues to do exceedingly well in long jump, we might change our plan altogether. To be honest, we never gave long jump a serious thought until today. But today’s jump has changed everything,” says Aiyappa.

At the finals, Aishwarya will face tough competition from Joseph and the prodigious Shaili, Singh who is recovering from an injury. It will also be a sort of battle of mates as Shaili’s coach Bobby George is a close friend of Aiyappa’s. “We know each other really well. We were roommates back in the day. So, this battle is kind of personal (laughs). After Aishwarya breaks the national record, I will go talk to him,” Aiyappa says in a lighter vein.

Yarraji stumbles

Hurdles sensation Jyothi Yarraji, favourite to win the race in Chennai, stumbled on a hurdle midway and finished last in the finals. Jyothi, who has rewritten her national mark three times in less than a month, broke down after her race. Even though she has already made the cut for CWG, she wanted to register for a good timing at the event. Coach James Hillier had to console the young athlete as she picked up her spikes and walked off the track, hanging her head. The smile returned a bit later though when one of the reporters asked if she would be visiting home soon. “Yes. I missed my brother’s wedding recently. But he’s proud of what I have achieved,” she said.